Paws and Prejudice
by MorganAW
Summary: Modern AU. Elizabeth Bennet & William Darcy clash as they continually run into each other at Netherfield Dog Park. Elizabeth would be happy to never see him again if it weren't for how attached her dog Jane was to his dog Bingley.
1. Ch1: A Picnic

**Licensing Note:** Based on Characters and story lines from _Pride and Prejudice_ by Jane Austen. Text from Jane Austen is in green, text from movie adaptations isin blue. If you would like to turn off the colored text, click "Hide Creator's Style" at the top of the page. The tense, pronouns, or wording of these quotes may be slightly modified to fit the scene. All original content and plot for _Paws and Prejudice_ is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license by Morgan A. Wyndham. Cross published on Archive of Our Own as Morgan AW and Derbyshire Writer's Guild as MorganA.

* * *

Elizabeth Bennet sighed as she loaded her pack into the car. She knew she had a problem, she just couldn't help herself ... whenever a particularly needy dog came into the shelter she volunteered at she inevitably broke down and adopted them. Jane was her first, she was the most beautiful cocker spaniel Elizabeth had ever seen with long golden locks. She had been a breeder rescued from a puppy mill and while she had the largest heart once you got to know her, she was shy around new people and typically afraid of male dogs. Because of this all of Elizabeth's subsequent rescues were females.

Then came Mary, a shetland sheepdog who was so afraid of people that she would cower under her bed in the shelter and went months shivering alone without being adopted. Even now that most of the fear had subsided, she would rather remain curled up on her bed in between the bookshelves than interact with others. Her great joy in life came from music and she would happily howl along whenever there was a tune to follow.

Next was Kitty the pekingese – unfortunately named by the six year old daughter of her first family. Said family had abandoned her at the shelter when she had a bad cough and they couldn't afford the vet bills. Even after her pneumonia had cleared up, poor Kitty suffered from severe separation anxiety. She was happy as a clam while people were in sight, but the minute she was left alone she started crying and pawing so frantically at the cage doors that she bloodied her paws. One day Elizabeth just couldn't bear leaving her there alone for one more night and adopted her.

Finally there was Lydia, a chihuahua puppy who was found half frozen on the streets with a broken leg. She was just so small, vulnerable, and young that Elizabeth couldn't leave her alone in that cage. As expected, Jane turned into a rather attentive surrogate mother, Mary tried to ignore her as much as possible, and Kitty had instantly idolized Lydia. Elizabeth could see the pekingese's anxiety fading away with her new companion. After the leg had healed Lydia turned out to be a lively, gregarious dog with an affinity for men and a reluctance to be housebroken.

While working with traumatized animals at the shelter was Elizabeth's passion project, she paid her bills as an animal behaviorist at an upscale veterinary clinic. She was essentially a therapist for spoiled poodles and their obnoxious owners. Today was the clinic's annual picnic for their patients and their owners. It was hosted by a stable that the clinic worked with so there was plenty of space for the dogs to roam. When she arrived she clasped leashes onto Kitty and Lydia, took a breath, and opened the door to let her girls out.

"Ms. Bennet," the booming voice of her least favorite customer beckoned her, "you're bringing _four_ dogs out at once? That seems highly unusual." Mrs. DeBurgh was a wealthy widow with no children who poured all of her attention into criticizing everyone around her and fussing over Anne, her Persian cat with COPD.

"Hello Mrs. DeBurgh, while Mary here would have been happy to stay at home," Mary responded to her name with a harrumph and curled up under a tree with stick, "it would be unfair to leave any of them out of the fun."

"Your house must be quite overrun, I hope you've got a good pet sitter."

"Nope, just us girls, but the clinic is close enough that I can stop in and walk them on my lunch break most days."

Mrs. DeBurgh's eyes bugged at this, but Lydia caught her attention at that moment with a yap and a preen. The puppy sure did know how cute she was, but rather than the coddling that such a display usually would win her, Mrs. DeBurgh just gave a disdainful sniff. "I see two of your dogs are leashed and the others are not."

"Well, Kitty and Lydia are fairly young to be out on their own, but I trust my two old ladies." Jane elegantly sat next to Elizabeth and looked up at her serenely as if to prove her point.

Mrs. DeBurgh looked like she had far more unsolicited advice to doll out, but her attention was drawn by a sleek black sports car pulling in. "Finally, someone sensible," the old lady said under her breath. Elizabeth was intrigued, she'd witnessed DeBurgh treat every member of the staff with similar disdain and wondered who would garner such a reaction. The door opened and quite possibly the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen stepped out. He was tall and handsome in a 'who wears a suit to a picnic in July' sort of way, and everything about him screamed of wealth and class. Everything, that is, until he opened the door and an excited golden retriever bounded out.

"William! Thank heavens you've arrived, there's nobody here worth talking to!" Mrs. DeBurgh called out to him.

Elizabeth must have done a poor job at masking her annoyance at being brushed off as 'nobody' because the handsome man's eyes rested on her a moment too long before he replied, "Aunt Catherine, would you introduce me to your friend?"

* * *

William Darcy had been dreading this event, it was just one final straw to this whole absurd business. First his friend had foisted this dog on him against his will. Then his poor, sweet, broken-hearted and currently cynophobic sister had instantly fallen in love with the puppy, leaving him no choice but to keep it. When his aunt found out, she insisted that if he mentioned her name at the Bromwell clinic he'd be taken care of – as if it wasn't their jobs to take care of him as a paying customer anyway. Then his aunt had insisted that he come to this ridiculous picnic as he was now part of their community. Just because his aunt devoted her life to that wheezing furball didn't mean that he would do the same.

Nonetheless, his aunt had ordered him here and now he was standing in a stableyard in an Armani suit surrounded by people obsessed with their 'furbabies'. At least that had been his frame of mind until he looked up into a pair of lively eyes with an expression caught between amusement and anger. He found himself asking for an introduction.

"Friend?" His aunt asked in confusion, she looked around and seemed to recall the woman standing next to her, "ah, yes, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, this is my nephew William Darcy. Miss Bennet is a behaviorist at the Clinic."

Those expressive eyes focused on him and she smiled as she breezily responded, "please call me Elizabeth," and held out her hand. Darcy mutely took her hand and nodded, desperately trying to think of what to say to her, but after an awkward moment she raised her eyebrow at him then asked: "and who is this?" She held out a fist toward his dog.

"His name is Bingley," he responded as the dog eagerly sniffed then licked her hand.

She knelt on the ground and pet his dog, murmuring, "aren't you a handsome boy," as Bingley licked her face. Darcy felt a momentary flash of jealousy that the dog got such treatment from the pretty girl before he reigned in his thoughts and slipped further behind his mask of indifference.

* * *

Catherine DeBurgh had begun another long-winded monologue in the awkward silence. As she greeted the happy golden retriever Elizabeth mused to herself that the company was much better down here with the dogs than up there with the humans. Eventually she was forced to stand up as Bingley lost interest in her in favor of sniffing around Jane as Lydia and Kitty ran around him trying to get his attention. When Catherine paused for a breath Elizabeth quickly made her excuses and walked toward the barn turned banquet hall where the food was being set up. Bingley, smitten already, seemed ready to follow Jane as she trailed Elizabeth into the barn but his leash restrained him and Darcy made no attempt to follow.

She found her friend Charlotte Lucas, the Clinic's veterinary specialist on exotic species, setting out the buffet of kibbles and treats for the pets. "Not three steps out of the car before I was cornered by her ladyship," Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"Ouch, what were you doing wrong this time?"

"Oh, having too many dogs and walking them myself like a plebeian." Charlotte giggled as she gave treats to Jane, Kitty and Lydia – Mary had remained outside under the tree. Jane greeted Charlotte with a sedate wag of the tail and a gentle nudge with her nose. "And get this, I just met her nephew who just oozes wealth and disdain. Luckily though he's content to silently judge me rather tell me my faults to my face like his aunt."

"Darcy, right?" Charlotte sighed, "now Lizzie, don't go making snap judgments, the guy's hot and loaded with a sweet dog to boot, he can't be all too bad. I saw a glimpse of him when he brought his dog in for a checkup and just itched to muss up his pristine appearance."

Elizabeth momentarily appreciated the mental image of a disheveled Darcy with a flushed face, but shook herself out of it. The guy was kind of an ass and she wouldn't waste her time pining.

With a few minor hiccups the picnic went over well. In the brief minutes of madness that she decided to try letting Lydia and Kitty off of their leashes, Lydia dashed into the crowd of dogs and people with Kitty close on her heels. They persistently chased after dogs twice their size and made quite the display before Elizabeth was able to restrain them again. There was also the point when a man had walked by Mary's tree whistling and Mary started a howl which spread throughout the dogs of the party and lasted several minutes before they all calmed down. But now at the end of the day Elizabeth just sat quietly at a picnic table with Charlotte watching Jane romp around with Bingley.

"I can't remember the last time I've seen her run around like that," Charlotte remarked.

"I've never seen her so comfortable with a male dog but they've been inseparable all day." She looked around at the dwindling crowd.

"Good for Jane, we could all use a good guy once in a while."

"Well, don't wish them happy just yet, at the end of the day she'll be coming home with me and he'll be going home with mister tall, dark and judgmental." Elizabeth shot a dark look across to where Darcy sat rigidly on the edge of a bench, his eyes shot from hers down to the phone in his hand.

"I'm pretty sure if you tried _you_ could be going home with mister tall, dark, and can't peel his eyes off of you," Charlotte replied sarcastically.

"Oh please, he's probably just cataloging every fault I have. I wonder why he's even still here, his aunt took off ages ago and he doesn't seem to know anyone else here."

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "maybe he just believes in puppy love and is playing wingman for his pooch."

Elizabeth laughed as she hauled herself up and began cleaning up. Several minutes later she was depositing a large haul of paper plates into a trashcan when Bingley came rushing up to his owner a few feet away. Elizabeth stifled a laugh when the serious Mr. Darcy began speaking to his dog as he pet him.

"What, do you think I'm going to go out there and run around with you? I don't even know anyone here." Bingley whined with a wagging tail and looked back to where Jane was sitting with Lydia and Kitty. "We can't all be as lucky as you to hit it off with the prettiest girl at the party." Bingley whimpered and tugged gently at his shirt cuff. "Yeah, ok, her owner's not bad either, but not pretty enough to tempt me to go crawling around in the dirt playing with dogs. You should go enjoy her company while you can," he said, tossing a stick in the direction of Jane. Bingley chased after it and before long the two dogs were lost in their own little world again.

Elizabeth could hardly believe her ears. Not only was she merely 'ok', but the jerk looked down on her for playing with the dogs? They were at a dog days picnic for goodness sake! What kind of irresponsible man adopted a dog if they were too good to play with them?

* * *

Darcy sighed wistfully as he watched Bingley run back to his newest obsession. He wished he could make friends as easily. He wished that he'd had enough courage to talk more to Elizabeth Bennet that day rather than observing her from a distance and listening in on her conversations like some sort of stalker. He wished that she'd show even a fraction of the interest in him as she showered on the dogs.

The clanging of a trashcan lid rather closer than expected pulled him out of his thoughts and he saw, to his horror, that Elizabeth Bennet was standing nearby glaring at him. She stormed off back to her friend and he was certain that she'd heard his little dialog with Bingley. Embarrassed, he collected his dog and left.


	2. Ch2: Netherfield Dog Park

The following Wednesday Elizabeth was happily tossing tennis balls to her girls at Netherfield, their usual dog park when suddenly Jane stopped in her tracks and stood alert with her eyes focused on the parking lot, her tail gently wagging. Elizabeth turned to see Darcy opening the gate and an excited Bingley darted off to join Jane. Darcy slowly made his way to Elizabeth's side.

"I've never seen you here before, Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth said tersely.

"No, it's my first time. I heard you speaking of the importance of routines and regular exercise for energetic dogs and I thought I'd give it a try. Bingley is rather ... exuberant."

"Oh," replied Elizabeth, flustered. "I had said something of the sort to Mr. Forster, but I was unaware you were part of the conversation." Had he been eavesdropping on her? If he'd heard that much, he'd also heard her say that she made a point of regular trips to the dog park on Wednesday afternoons. Rather than answering her challenge Darcy fell into silence.

After several minutes Elizabeth couldn't bear it any longer and asked, "Bingley is an odd name for a dog, where did you come up with it?"

"He was a gift from a friend, Charles Bingley. He was obliged to leave town for several months on business and didn't want me to get lonely so he got me a dog to keep me company and named it after himself."

_Well,_ Elizabeth mused to herself, _Charlotte will be disappointed to learn he has a boyfriend, what other degree of intimacy would require a substitute to keep him company?_ "You must be rather close."

"Yes, he is a good friend and the dog bears a remarkable resemblance to Charles, happy, friendly, persistent to a fault, and always smitten by the prettiest girl in the room." After another awkward silence, he added with a smirk, "I must say, yelling at Bingley to stop peeing on the floor rather brings me back to our college days ..." at Elizabeth's raised eyebrow he elaborated, "he was my roommate and he didn't have the best aim when drunk."

"How unfortunate," Elizabeth giggled as she pictured Darcy as an uptight college kid following his roommate around with a bottle of spray cleaner and rubber gloves. While the ensuing conversation about roommates past was largely carried by Elizabeth, Darcy remained engaged and Elizabeth decided there were worse ways to fill the gaps between throwing tennis balls.


	3. Ch3: A Pattern Emerges

Week 2

The following Wednesday Darcy drove past the dog park twice, berating himself for this weakness. He'd overheard her saying the name of the park and her weekly routine purely by accident. Sure he'd sat nearby so he'd have a decent view of her, but he was fairly certain he hadn't been intentionally listening in. It's just that her conversations were so witty and amusing that he'd found himself overhearing her a lot that day.

Last week had been a fluke. He'd suddenly had an investor cancel a four o'clock meeting and found himself in the rare circumstance of finishing work early for a change, why not take Bingley to the park? It would be good for the dog, he could get a little exercise ...

This week he'd blocked off space in his schedule for the dog park. He'd come in an hour early then left work eagerly, dropped by his house to pick up the dog, and now found himself circling the block like a fool. _What am I doing? I know nothing can come of it, she's not the kind of girl I can introduce to investors or bring to a charity event. Not to mention that Aunt Catherine would have a heart attack!_

Despite this inner turmoil, he found himself pulling in and parking the car. Over the last week and a half he'd found that he couldn't stop thinking about her. As they got out of the car he found himself almost as eager as Bingley, though thankfully he had an easier time masking it.

* * *

Elizabeth frowned as Jane stopped and pointed for the third time that afternoon. Sure it was in her nature as a spaniel to point, but Jane rarely did so without cause. This time when Elizabeth's gaze followed Jane's direction it fell again on William Darcy and the fluffy torpedo headed directly towards Jane. Once she could understand as a coincidence, twice was a pattern.

"Good afternoon, Elizabeth," he said as he approached her.

"Darcy," she replied with a cold nod.

He fell silent and Elizabeth continued to throw balls and sticks for the dogs. She was determined not to break the silence this time. If the man wanted to stand there disdainfully mute, so be it.

After several minutes he ventured to quietly ask, "so, what does a behaviorist do?" Elizabeth read the derision in his tone as she had from so many others. She was tired of having to defend her job to people like him, so she didn't answer him. He repeated the question, with some surprise at her silence.

"Oh!" said she, "I heard you before, but I didn't want to give you fodder to poke fun at my job."

"I wouldn't dare make fun of your job."

"Right," she said sarcastically, "I heard your tone."

"What tone? This is just my voice."

"How unfortunate that your tone just always conveys disdain." He frowned and looked down. Had she actually hurt his feelings? She felt a little guilty, his poor manners were no excuse for her to be mean. In penance she decided to answer his question. "An animal behaviorist, as the name implies, studies animal behavior in relation to their environment and experiences in order to address problematic behavior."

"Ah, so you answer questions like 'why does Bingley pee all over my wood floors?'"

"Well, you don't need a behaviorist to tell you that, he's still a puppy. With proper training that should even out. I deal more with issues like 'why does my dog scratch her paws bloody when I leave the room' or 'why does my cat pull out tufts of fur in one specific spot.'"

"So you're like a therapist for patients who can't tell you what's going on?"

Elizabeth looked up at him in surprise, "yes, exactly." Lydia claimed her attention for a moment as she was pestering a mastiff who was showing signs of losing his patience. As she returned to his side she noted that he looked much the same as he had at the picnic, out of place in a suit and tie, standing rigidly, content to watch the dogs play without taking part in it himself. "So," she inquired, "what do you do?"

"I am an investment banker at Pemberley LLC," he answered succinctly.

_Of course he'd be a banker for rich snobs, what else?_ "Thus the suit," she teased.

He looked down at himself in confusion, "what is wrong with my suit?"

"Nothing ... in an office. It is a bit out of place at the dog park though."

* * *

Week 3

Darcy pulled up to the dog park wearing a new pair of jeans – he hadn't had any in his wardrobe – and a sweater his sister had purchased him for Christmas. As he approached she was flashing him that irresistible smile that made his pulse race.

They exchanged greetings and small talk, but before long Bingley came to tug Elizabeth out to play with them. She ran around so freely, so full of joy and life and he smiled watching her antics. "You know, you could join us," she called to him, her cheeks flushed and her eyes brightened by the exercise.

For a moment he could only stare at the siren beckoning him to the brink. This woman was dangerous to his peace of mind and he knew he should keep his distance but he couldn't help but engage in some mild flirting. "No thank you, I have a much better view from over here."

"Ass!" she shouted back at him.

"Indeed," he said under his breath as she turned from him and picked up the stick that Kitty had dropped at her feet. She wore leggings and an over-large tee-shirt, an underwhelmingly casual thrown-together outfit that should not be attractive in the least and yet Darcy was charmed.

* * *

After a while Elizabeth came back over to him and collapsed on the ground. "Bingley wore me out. Jane and Mary usually move a bit slower and Kitty and Lydia are itty bitty, so they're easier to keep up with," she sighed, and tried to calm her breathing. Mary lumbered up to her and cuddled up at her side.

"Well, I thank you for wearing him out," Elizabeth craned her neck to look at him as he talked, "he's always calmer after a trip to Netherfield."

She'd get a headache if she kept looking at him like this. "Now that you've got some halfway normal clothes, why don't you sit down with me?" She invited, patting the grass beside her

He looked skeptically at the ground then followed her command. "What do you mean halfway normal?"

"Well, the jeans are a nice touch, but what is this? Cashmere?" She asked as she stroked his arm, mostly convincing herself that she was just admiring the fabric. "And you're still wearing a button up shirt and tie underneath, it's August for pity sake!"

"What would you have me wear?" He asked contemplatively.

"I dunno, a tee-shirt? Ripped jeans? Old clothes that you don't care if they get dirty because you were rolling around with the dogs?" She raised a challenging eyebrow to him and he looked at her blankly. "Right, you don't own old clothes, do you?"

"I've never seen the point of retaining clothes I no longer wear."

_Of course Mr. Moneybags doesn't see the point of wearing clothes more than once._ She was again struck by the urge to see him rumpled, to discard the tie and unbutton some buttons ... _time to derail that train of thought._ She stood abruptly and said, "you're a lost cause Darcy," as she ruffled his hair and walked away, calling for her dogs to join her.

* * *

Week 4

Darcy pulled at the hem of his shirt as he exited his car the following week. He'd managed to find a tee-shirt with his exercise clothes that, while not old or ripped, was something he'd worn before. He wasn't used to being this exposed or casual in public outside of the gym. It was easier to give off an air of authority in a suit and tie and Darcy hardly knew how to interact with people outside of those parameters.

Outside of his family he had a select few friends that he'd known before... before the accident ... before he'd become an orphan, a guardian, and a CEO in one day ... before new acquaintances feigned interest because of what they could milk him for ... before old friends betrayed him from greed and spite. Since then he'd preferred the emotional detachment of cold formality. Though he'd never admit it out loud, the suit and tie felt somewhere between a safety blanket and armor to him.

Elizabeth Bennet was the first new acquaintance he'd felt inclined to lower that armor for in a very long time. No matter how many times he'd mentally listed the reasons against dating her his mind still drifted to her at the most inconvenient times. In the end he allowed himself this one indulgence, restricted – as all indulgences should be – to small doses. He rationalized that as long as there were no dates, no expectations, no meeting friends or family, there could be no harm in spending an hour or two a week enjoying her presence in a public place. He repeated this like a mantra as he entered the park, but that did not prevent the twinge of regret that he felt when he discovered that she was not alone.

Elizabeth stood beaming at a young boy who was ordering his beagle to do the same three tricks over and over. As Darcy approached, she turned that smile on him and winked at him as she said, "Mr. Darcy, look how very accomplished Carter is, and Billy here trained him all by himself."

Darcy's stomach flipped at the initial smile and wink and his brain lagged a bit behind as he parsed her words. "It all seems rather standard to me," he said without giving it much thought.

The smile slipped from Elizabeth's face for a moment before she continued with a brighter, though forced cheer, "but he knows how to sit, lay down, and shake," she had paused between each word so Billy could repeat the command.

"But those are the first three commands every dog learns," he could tell Elizabeth was trying to convey something to him with her eyes but wasn't sure what it was, so he continued on. "My aunt would expound on the diversity of commands they know, the way they walk, the luster of their coat, their elegance etc – all of the features they look at in show circles – but to me, it's the service dogs who are really accomplished, they improve the lives of their owners or communities through honing their own abilities."

* * *

Elizabeth just stared at the man in front of her in amazement, how could one man miss that many cues? Billy was her friend Charlotte's younger brother and Elizabeth felt overly protective of his feelings. She rolled her eyes and clarified, "well, Carter is only _three months old_, and _Billy_ is training him by himself. I think he can hold off on training him to detect seizures for the time being, don't you?"

Elizabeth had to stifle a laugh as the gears in Darcy's brain seemed to finally catch up to the conversation. He blushed slightly and turned to Billy and stuttered out a belated and obviously disingenuous complement on the boy's accomplishment. Billy looked at him skeptically and Elizabeth knelt down beside him, "don't be discouraged by Mr. Darcy, he doesn't approve of me either. He has no faults himself so he likes to point them out in other people." Billy still looked a bit disgruntled in that way that intelligent kids get when adults casually patronize them, so Elizabeth continued, "do you want to know how I cope with that?" Billy nodded at her, "my courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me. It just makes me want to prove them wrong."

"Yeah! I'm going to train Carter so good that he'll get one of those vests and I'll be able to take him everywhere with me!"

"Alright!" Lizzie said, holding up her hand for a high five, "but he'll only be able to go places when he's working." Billy's eyes dimmed a bit, so Elizabeth continued, "how about you train him up as an emotional support animal, then you can take him to hospitals and cheer up all of the sick kids?"

Billy got excited again, "yeah! When my brother got sick and had to go to the hospital for a whole week he was homesick, I think the kids there could use a puppy friend!"

"That's the spirit! I can get you some books to read." At that moment, Mrs. Lucas pulled up and honked for Billy to leave. He made his hasty goodbyes and as he walked away, Darcy held out his hand to help Elizabeth up.

"I never claimed that I had no faults."

Elizabeth laughed, "perhaps not, but you do your best to hide them behind stubborn authority."

"Doesn't everybody?"

"Sure, to some extent, but I will happily walk home today with grass stains on my knees not caring that I look like a mess. It's taken you four weeks to appropriately dress down for the dog park – nice shirt, by the way, J. Crew?" Elizabeth couldn't help but throw one more barb.

"Under Armor, I found it in my exercise room." _Of course! Why else would one wear a tee-shirt?_ Elizabeth silently completed the sentence for him. Darcy didn't seem to pick up on the fact that she was teasing him, so he continued on their former thread of conversation. "I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding.

"After telling 8 year old Billy Lucas that only service dogs were truly accomplished I would contest that."

"Ok, so I'll admit that I don't always understand social cues and my temper I dare not vouch for. I cannot forget the follies and vices of others so soon as I ought, nor their offenses against myself."

"That is a failing indeed!" cried Elizabeth, "but you've only confirmed what I said to poor Billy. Perhaps if you perceive our faults as only 'follies' and 'vices' you see no problem pointing them out, but that doesn't hurt us any less."

"It was not maliciously done at any rate. I think we all have a tendency to some natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome."

Elizabeth noted that he never contradicted her assertion that he didn't approve of her anymore than he approved of Billy Lucas. She was infuriated that even as he admitted to some faults, he justified them rather than simply apologizing. "And your defect is to hate everybody."

"And yours," he replied with a smile, "is willfully to misunderstand them." Elizabeth just shook her head at the pompous jerk and ran out to play with her dogs.

* * *

Week 5

Elizabeth was caught in the soothing repetition of throwing sticks in four slightly different directions for each of her girls when Lydia suddenly veered off course. She had retrieved her stick – a twig really in the case of the chihuahua – and started back towards Elizabeth as she'd done a dozen times that day when something, or rather someone, caught her eye and she ran off in another direction. Elizabeth watched as her youngest pranced up, dropped her stick, and preened in front of a gorgeous man in ripped jeans and a tee-shirt that were speckled with paint spatter. The pitbull* beside him gave a low growl, but the guy just chuckled and replied: "Easy there Killer, that's no way to greet the ladies."

As Elizabeth ran over to intervene – and thus stopped throwing sticks – her whole pack followed her to greet the new arrivals. "I'm sorry about Lydia, she's quite the little flirt."

"No problem, I like it when women know what they want and go for it."

Elizabeth laughed and held out her hand, "I'm Elizabeth."

"George," he flashed her a smile as he took her hand, "and this here's Killer."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Elizabeth bent and offered her hand to Killer and he obediently put his paw in it. "This is Jane, Mary, Kitty, and of course you've met Lydia."

They passed several minutes exchanging witty banter and small talk and Elizabeth couldn't help but compare him to her other recent dog park companion. George was lively, funny, flirtatious, and laid back whereas Darcy was stiff, taciturn, judgmental and formal. The two men clashed in her mind as perfect opposites. As if her mental tally had conjured him to life, Darcy came through the park gate at that moment and started in her direction but stopped dead in his tracks when he made eye contact with George.

Elizabeth watched in astonishment as the color seemed to fade out of George's face and into Darcy's. They stood there in that odd pantomime of a wild west standoff – staring contemptuously at each other from the distance of ten paces – until Killer returned with a stick that Elizabeth had thrown, dropped it at her feet, and barked at her inattention. Darcy's expression shifted from anger to something closer to panic.

* * *

Darcy was smiling as he stepped out of his car that day and looking forward to soaking up the sunshine of Elizabeth's smiles. Sure, he'd hit a stumbling block with the whole 'accomplishments' conversation last week, but he was ready to play along and help Billy train the dogs if need be. as he entered the gate, he barely gave a second thought that Elizabeth wasn't alone, assuming it was the kid again. He'd cleared about half of the distance between them when the man stood up and Darcy could see that sickeningly familiar smile.

He stopped, glaring at his former friend, and tried to contain the rage that was boiling inside him. Somehow Wickham was here ... with Elizabeth. He was again utterly unprepared for _that man's_ reappearance in his life, and yet had the sinking realization that he shouldn't be surprised. Wickham had tried to take away every other source of joy in his life, of course he would somehow find Elizabeth too.

His intense focus on his nemesis was broken by a dog bark and a surge of adrenaline surged through him. He could still hear Georgiana's scream and see the blood running down her arm. That same dog was standing in front of his Elizabeth and she had no idea. "Elizabeth, could I speak to you for a moment?" He tried to keep his tone even as he beckoned her over. Elizabeth rolled her eyes but complied.

"You should stay away from that dog, he can be dangerous!"

He could tell it was the wrong thing to say as her pretty eyes danced with agitation, "don't give me any of that 'bully breed' bullshit! Pitbulls are sweet dogs under the care of a loving household."

Darcy gave a snide laugh, "Wickham's not a loving caregiver."

"George has been nothing but kind to me," she snapped back, and he pushed back the pang of regret he felt at the emphasis she'd placed on that scoundrel's name. "And despite his name so far Killer has been a friendly playmate to the girls."

He remembered how that dog had a friendly demeanor right up until he was angered or startled. "Oh yes, he's very good at making friends – whether he's equally capable of retaining them is less certain."

"And what do you have to accuse him of?"

"I ..." Darcy battled with himself, he had been the one to insist on the non-disclosure as part of the settlement in order to protect Pemberley, but he also couldn't bear to see Elizabeth hurt. In the end, his duty to his company and his sister won out and he sighed, "he's just not the kind of dog you should let your dogs associate with."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically, "Oh! In that case, I see what a monster he is. I'll break cut all communications at once."

Darcy stared at her silently seething for another minute, frustrated that she couldn't just trust him on this. Seeing no other option, he threw a final warning glare at Wickham, turned on his heel, and stormed away. He made it to the gate before he finally remembered Bingley, who had immediately nuzzled up to Jane, and called for his dog. Bingley spent a moment looking between his owner and Jane whining before he reluctantly followed Darcy out of the park.

* * *

Elizabeth shook her head at Darcy's retreating back, then returned to George. "Sorry about that tantrum, Darcy's not used to not getting his own way."

"I'm well aware," George scoffed.

"What's his deal with you anyway?"

He hesitated, looked at her cautiously and asked, "how well do you know Darcy?"

"Not well, he shows up here every Wednesday at four like clockwork, stands around awkwardly, and doesn't play with the dogs."

George laughed, "sounds about right. He was normal enough as a kid, but he became a stuck up jackass in high school and never looked back on us mere mortals."

"You knew him as a kid?" Elizabeth's interest was already peaked.

"Yeah, my dad was a senior partner at Pemberley and we grew up together. After my dad died, old Mr. Darcy even fostered me until the end of high school. We used to be good friends, if you can believe it."

"What on earth happened?"

"Well, Darcy was always a bit weird, but in high school everyone sorts into groups, you know? Darcy was the nerdy loaner and – not to brag – but I was popular, star athlete, prom king, the whole nine yards." Elizabeth acknowledged the bragging, but could easily picture the two as teens. "Old Mr. Darcy loved me ... probably more than he loved his son even. After college, I was supposed to have a nice cushy job lined up for me at Pemberley, same as Darcy. He started us out in lower management, intended us to 'work our way up the ladder' to avoid accusations of nepotism. Sadly, only few years after we'd started Mr. Darcy died in a car accident and suddenly William Darcy was the CEO and I never saw another promotion. Only about a year after that he manged to edge me out of the company completely then blacklist me in the financial sector. Which is why I'm now stuck working for a contractor painting houses," he gestured to the paint spattered clothes that Elizabeth had seen as such a contrast to Darcy.

"Can he even do that?" Elizabeth asked, enraged.

"As incredible as it may seem, finance is a small pond and Darcy is a big fish. There's not much I can do." After George had completed his story, they'd resumed playing with the dogs mostly in silence and Elizabeth ruminated on all she'd learned. Elizabeth was shocked, she'd known Darcy was a stuck up, self-centered snob but she'd never thought him that petty. But what reason would Wickham have to make up the story? And he had given all of the details so clearly and with such a genuine earnestness. Besides, she'd given Darcy a chance to tell his side of the story and his silence spoke volumes. If even he could not defend himself, she felt no need to make up excuses for him.

*Author's Note: I don't want to play into the demonizing of bully breeds, pitbulls can be some of the sweetest and most loyal and loving pets. However, bad people do often buy bully breeds and train them to be mean, and that is a stereotype that Elizabeth can assume that Darcy's making when he warns her away from him similar to the class issue highlighted in the novel. I thought that was the best way to pull Wickham's misdeeds into a story about dogs.

* * *

Week 6

Elizabeth was going through some training techniques with Billy when Jane alerted her to the presence of nobody's favorite stick in the mud. She didn't understand why he kept showing up at the dog park at the same time as her week after week. He didn't actually play with the dogs, his conversation was stilted at best, and he obviously disdained those around him. Her best guess was that if Elizabeth and her dogs played with Bingley and wore him out, Darcy wouldn't have to go through the hassle himself. After the way he'd treated George, she wouldn't put a little casual neglect past him. She hoped that when the human Bingley got back he would be more caring, the poor dog deserved to have at least one loving owner.

Darcy managed to surprise her when he attempted to smooth over his previous blunder by asking Billy Lucas to give him some tips on training his dog. The three passed a somewhat awkward, but overall pleasant hour conversing and training the dogs.


	4. Ch4: Puppy Party

Darcy watched as Elizabeth tapped her shoulders and Bingley jumped up and put his paws there like a hug. It was a cute trick that he had little need for his dog to learn but Billy was convinced that it was important for an emotional support dog, and as Bingley was the only of their dogs large enough to do it he'd went along with it. He couldn't deny that he appreciated the way Elizabeth smiled when the dog had finally caught on. Billy repeated the command and Bingley happily hopped up for him with his tail wagging and a slight whine as Billy was slow with the clicker and treat.

"It's your turn," Elizabeth said to him after Bingley's paws were all on the ground once again, "he is your dog, after all."

He tapped his shoulders, but as he was far taller than his two companions the dog's paws landed somewhat uncomfortably lower on his chest. He grimaced at the muddy pawprints on his shirt and was grateful that he'd followed Elizabeth's guidance on his clothing. The dog saw the look of disappointment on his face and ran off to join Jane. Billy, not wanting to be left alone with the grown ups, ran after them as well.

"Oh no, it looks like we've taught your dog a trick that you won't have much use for. I don't suppose that Bingley the person is much shorter?" Elizabeth asked.

"Charles?" He asked, somewhat confused what his friend's height had to do with anything. "He's a bit shorter than I am, but still rather tall compared to his canine counterpart. Don't worry though, Georgiana is about your height and she'll love this trick."

"Georgiana?" Elizabeth asked. He took momentary pleasure in the look of confusion and, dare he hope, jealousy that crossed her face before he reminded himself that she was not the type of woman he could date.

* * *

_Is this a girlfriend? What happened to the absent boyfriend?_ Elizabeth thought, trying to sort it out in her mind.

"My sister, she's twenty, a musicology student, and totally enamored of this dog." Elizabeth nodded in comprehension.

"Do you get to see her often?"

"Daily, in fact." A joke about the snobby investment banker still living with his parents was at the tip of her tongue when she noticed the dark look that crossed his brow and silenced her. "I've been her guardian since our parents died in a car accident five years ago."

"Oh God, I'm so sorry," Elizabeth murmured, reaching out to grasp his arm in sympathy. Somehow in George's version of the story, Elizabeth had failed to remember the emotional impact of Darcy losing his father and hadn't realized he'd lost both parents.

"Thank you," he said softly, staring at the junction where her hand met his arm. "It's been a long road since then, but at least we have each other."

Elizabeth never knew what to say in these situations. 'I'm sorry' didn't seem to cover the gravity of the situation, 'condolences' seemed too formal, and she didn't have any personal experience to relate it to. She was nearly ready to spout off something formulaic from a greeting card when Bingley bounded up and diffused the tension by jumping to put his paws on Elizabeth's shoulders, nearly knocking her over. She grabbed on to the dog and fought to maintain her balance.

"It looks like you're dancing!" Billy said as he ran up to them.

"It's just like a night at the club, fighting to remain upright while an unsteady guy paws at me." Billy laughed even though the joke sailed over his head. Darcy scowled rather than laugh. Trying to diffuse the tension, Elizabeth scolded the dog: "Bingley, you've got to learn consent, you're only supposed to hug someone when they give you permission."

"Lizzy!" Billy said excitedly, "can we have a puppy party? I'm sure Mary wants to sing!"

Darcy raised an eyebrow at her in question. "Mary sings along whenever there's a tune, then all of the other dogs get excited ... it's a party," she explained with a shrug.

"Please Lizzy!"

As she pushed Bingley down, Elizabeth thought for a moment, searching for a song with a lot of high, sustained notes. Then she turned towards Mary, who was curled up under a tree and began the first lines of Adele:

_"I heard that you're settled down, That you found a girl and you're married now."_ Mary's head shot up and she started wagging her tail.

* * *

Darcy stared in amazement. Elizabeth's singing perhaps wasn't the most accomplished, but it was sweet and lively and he was entranced.

_"I heard that your dreams came true..."_ When she hit that last note, Mary started a low whine and the other dogs started to run up close.

_"Never mind, I'll find someone like you ..."_ Elizabeth played up the extended note into something closer to a howl and Mary began howling outright.

_"I wish nothing but the best for you, too ..."_ By the second line of the chorus Bingley and Jane had joined in. Lydia ran around with Carter, 'dancing' excitedly. Billy knelt down and grabbed Kitty's front paws gently and started dancing with her while she howled. Elizabeth was dancing along now as well.

_"I hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited,"_ Elizabeth looked at him and beckoned him to join the fun.

_"But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it..."_ He found the words of the song rather fitting to his situation and joined the fray, dancing close to Elizabeth as she sang.

_"Never mind, I'll find someone like you. I wish nothing but the best for you, too. "Don't forget me," I beg, "I'll remember," you said. Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead. Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead."_

As Elizabeth sang the last rendition of the chorus, Darcy realized that he was falling way deeper into Elizabeth's charms than the casual flirtation he'd intended. As her voice wavered off their eyes met and they stood there for a moment, his hand lingering on the small of her back, both slightly breathless. He felt himself being drawn in and had little will to stop it.

"Look at Jane and Bingley!" Billy Lucas shouted, shattering that fragile moment. The two dogs were nuzzling each other sweetly. "Are they boyfriend and girlfriend?" the boy asked Elizabeth.

"Ah yes, puppy love," she responded, laughing.

Billy looked at them and asked in the unthinking manner of a child, "are you boyfriend and girlfriend?" Darcy felt like he'd been doused with cold water and his hand fell from her back as he took a step away.

"No!" Elizabeth answered quickly.

"But he only comes here when you're here, and he only talks to you, and he danced with you ..." Darcy took another step back. This – questions, expectations, labels – this was exactly what he didn't want with Elizabeth. This had slipped farther than his weekly dose of smiles and banter.

Elizabeth was about to respond when Lydia grabbed one of Carter's toys and ran off with it, the beagle growled and ran after her and Billy and Elizabeth took off after the pair to mediate. In the ensuing chaos Darcy called for Bingley and left the dog park quietly. He knew that he was on the edge of something, and if he wanted to maintain his own equilibrium he would have to put an end to his trips to Netherfield.


	5. Ch5: Rosings Park

As she looked up at the palatial estate before her, Elizabeth asked herself for the millionth time how she'd been roped into this mess. She supposed it was her fault for recruiting Charlotte into volunteering at the shelter with her. If she hadn't done that, Charlotte wouldn't have met the director of the shelter, William Collins. Even though the creep had persistently harassed Elizabeth for a date for months, refusing to take no for an answer, he'd done a 180 when Charlotte began volunteering there as well. Within a week Collins had transferred his affections to her friend and Charlotte had shown the incredibly poor taste to accept. After a month they were officially dating, and it only took another three months before they'd moved in together.

If not for this unfortunate introduction, Charlotte and Collins wouldn't be dating, Collins would never have known that Elizabeth had worked her way through college at an event company planning and coordinating weddings and galas. He, therefore, never would have asked her to plan a charity ball and Charlotte never would have pulled in years worth of favors to trap her into doing it. She let out a beleaguered sigh as she walked towards the doors. At least it was for a good cause, it would benefit the animals, expand the capacity of the shelter, and improve the facilities.

"Miss Bennet, I simply must have a word with you about your appalling choices for the floral arrangements." Mrs. DeBurgh's sharp voice cut through the still air. No matter what the cause, Elizabeth certainly never would have agreed to take part in this farce had she known who the principal patroness of the event was. By the time Collins had managed to secure funding and a location for the ball from Catherine DeBurgh, Elizabeth was already too far invested in the event to back out. For the past two months every other sentence from Collins included a reference to his magnanimous patroness.

Unsurprisingly, Mrs. DeBurgh's 'expertise' spanned to all aspects of the planning and execution of the ball, nothing was below her notice. Unfortunately, in spite of her wish to manage every detail, she had no desire to execute them and so Elizabeth was stuck orchestrating the event at the extreme supervision of Mrs. DeBurgh.

_Three more days,_ Elizabeth reminded herself as she took a calming breath and turned to address her tormentor. As Mrs. DeBurgh droned on about the proper way of organizing a centerpiece, Elizabeth half listened as she tallied the remaining tasks. She'd had to take the day off of work and leave her dogs with her parents for the weekend so she could be on-site to help set up the event at Rosings, Mrs. DeBurgh's massive country estate. The bulk of the setup – arranging furniture, constructing a dance floor, etc. – would happen today. Tomorrow morning would be consumed by coordinating with vendors – setting up the caterers, receiving shipments, distributing flowers, and the Gala would happen tomorrow evening. Sunday she would have to assist in deconstruction of the event space and cleanup, but she was determined to be done and on the road by noon. Due to Mrs. DeBurgh's condescension, she'd already spent most of her free time for the past months on this event and she was anxious to get back home to her dogs.

A half hour and three tense phone calls to the florist later, Elizabeth slumped back against the wall of the courtyard cursing 'Lady' Catherine for not insisting on these changes when she'd seen the plans weeks ago rather than saving her proclamations for the day before the event. Looking out across the frozen grounds of the estate she allowed the serenity of the scene to wash over her before her numb fingers required her to go inside and she returned to the fray.

She walked into the ballroom and was assaulted by the elegant, but overdone decorations that 'Lady' Catherine had meticulously outlined. Mr. Colins had early thought of the idea of a Valentines theme because "pets are love, after all" – this nauseating scene happened in their living room while he was gazing fondly at Charlotte as she snuggled up with her pet ferret. Elizabeth had went along with the theme because the timeline would work out to hold the ball on Valentines weekend and it would help them attract an audience – more people would be willing to pay for the fancy benefit dinner if it would give them an elegant location for their annual formal dinner date.

She and Charlotte had just finished tallying the last minute RSVPs to send final numbers off to the caterers when the obsequious tones of Mr. Collins drew their attention to the doorway. Elizabeth was momentarily surprised to see Darcy and another man walking toward them as Mr. Collins followed in their wake before she remembered that Darcy was Catherine DeBurgh's nephew. "I may thank you, Lizzy, for this piece of civility. Mr. tall dark and can't peel his eyes off of you certainly isn't headed this direction for my benefit." Charlotte whispered to her. Elizabeth barely had time to roll her eyes before the men arrived.

"Ms. Bennet, Charlotte," Mr. Collins said with an air of gravity, "allow me to introduce the nephews of our esteemed patroness, Mr. Darcy – CEO of Pemberley LLC – and Colonel Fitzwilliam, a distinguished military strategist. Gentlemen, allow me to present my other half, Charlotte, and Ms. Elizabeth Bennet."

The Colonel stepped forward and held out his hand, "Elizabeth, I've heard so much about you!" Elizabeth raised her eyebrow at Darcy, who had yet to open his mouth or shift his eyes from her.

"I wouldn't believe everything you hear, Colonel."

"Oh, I'm sure it's all true. Please call me Richard." They managed a couple of minutes of small talk – the substance of which came largely from Elizabeth and Richard with Mr. Collins attempting to break into monologues, Charlotte tactfully quieting him, and Darcy silently staring – before Catherine DeBurgh ordered Elizabeth and Charlotte to assemble the favor bags and fold napkins while she led her nephews off to 'rest' from their 'long' journey.


	6. Ch6: Charity Case

Elizabeth sighed as she finally managed to sit down for five minutes by herself. To all outward appearances the ball was going smoothly although Elizabeth knew that it all came at the expense of her sanity. Catherine had found a continual string of 'emergencies' that Elizabeth had to diffuse, she'd had to re-order the silent auction at the last minute because one of their sponsors had taken affront to their offering being displayed near a rival, she'd had to sort out a meal for a guest who had neglected to inform them ahead of time that they were both vegan _and_ gluten free, she'd schmoozed with more rich people than she'd ever wanted to, and she'd had to dance twice with Mr. Collins. Now that dinner was over and people were mostly settled into drinking, dancing, and mingling Elizabeth finally had the time to catch her breath only to realize that dinner had long since been cleared and she'd missed out on that delightful fillet mignon dinner that she'd so meticulously planned with the caterers.

She was grumbling about her sore feet and rumbling stomach when her fillet mignon magically appeared in front of her. "Oh, my God, I love you!" she said, assuming it was Charlotte or a member of the wait staff who saved her from starvation. She immediately regretted it when she looked up to see a blushing Darcy sit down next to her. "I was talking to the steak, of course."

Darcy actually laughed at that. "Of course. I noticed you never had a chance to sit down through dinner, so I spoke to the caterer and saved you a plate." Elizabeth looked up, somewhat abashed that Darcy of all people had been so considerate.

"Thank you," she said quietly as she began eating.

"How are you holding up? You've seemed rather busy all evening."

"As well as can be expected. Your aunt has exacting standards."

"Yes," he smiled contritely, "she loves to be of use, though rarely follows through on the execution of her advise." Elizabeth merely nodded, not wishing to insult his aunt directly.

Conversation tapered off at that, but Darcy didn't move away to mingle. He sat there silently, quietly watching her as she ate. It was all rather uncomfortable and under different circumstances she might have told him off, but he had brought her food, after all. After she'd finished her meal he held his hand out and asked her to dance. She was already itching to get out of his company and was too tired to dance, but couldn't think of a valid reason to say no when he was being so nice.

He led her out to the dance floor and the silence followed them. Feeling stifled under the words left unsaid, Elizabeth commented: "it is nice to have an occasion to waltz, it validates all of those middle school gym classes."

* * *

Darcy merely murmured his assent and glided his thumb across her back, enjoying the feel of her in his arms. He'd been too focused on what he wanted to ask her to fully process what she was saying. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and added, "It is your turn to say something now, Mr. Darcy. I talked about the dance, and you ought to make some sort of remark on the size of the room, or the number of couples."

That pulled him out of his nerves enough to remind him of their surroundings and the tremendous amount of work she'd put into that room. "You did a remarkable job pulling this event together Elizabeth. My aunt's ballroom has never looked so elegant."

"I wasn't fishing for complements, I just wanted to start a conversation."

"Well, the praise was well earned." He fell silent for another moment, but needed to rouse himself to comply with her wishes so he said the first thing that popped into his head. "It is nice dancing with you without the accompaniment of dogs."

"I'll admit that Mary has a much harder time staying on tune than the string quartet," she said as her bewitching eyes sparkled. They both laughed and in that moment everything in Darcy's life felt perfect.

Now was the moment, he had to say something. He couldn't let her just walk out of his life again tomorrow. He'd tried distance to forget her and it hadn't worked. But how much was too much? He couldn't just blurt out that he loved her here in his aunt's ballroom yet asking her out on a date didn't seem sufficient for what he felt. He looked around the room and decided on a compromise. "Elizabeth," he sighed her name, "would you be my Valentine?"

He was entirely unprepared for her response. She snorted a laugh and quipped, "Valentines day is a fake holiday used to sell jewelry and candy and to force couples try to live up to unrealistic expectations while making single people feel even more alone and undesirable than they already do."

"But..." he started and gestured around them with their joined hands.

"We're exploiting the exploitative holiday to raise money for a good cause. If people are already going to blow more money than they have on a dinner to celebrate a commercial holiday, why shouldn't that money go to save puppies?"

He sighed, "Elizabeth, I think you're missing the critical point to my question." She looked at him and gestured for him to continue. "I admire you. I love you. I want you in my life." There. He'd said it.

"What about your boyfriend?" she asked with a wrinkled brow.

"Boyfriend? Whatever gave you the idea that I had a boyfriend?" He looked down at himself and murmured: "is it the suits?"

"Well, the fastidious way you dress doesn't help your case, but what about Bingley? The 'friend' who got you a replacement form of affection when he left town?"

"Bingley is just a friend. I like women. Specifically, I like you," He said, hoping to get this conversation back on the right track.

"Seriously? We see each other for maybe an hour a week for a couple of months, you almost kiss me at a dog park, then disappear for five months until we're thrown together by circumstance and you expect ... what? ... that I'd just fall at your feet?"

"Ok, I know that I shouldn't have just walked away like that, but I was falling in love with you and felt myself losing control and I just panicked. We're from different spheres, I didn't know how we could fit into each other's lives, how we could make it work, what we'd tell my family. So I gave myself space, tried to forget you and it didn't work I couldn't stop thinking about you. Then I came here and saw how well you handled my aunt, what an amazing hostess and event planner you are, how well you fit in to this world and I couldn't let the opportunity pass."

"Well, I'm glad I clean up well enough for you to be seen with in public," Elizabeth fumed. He hadn't explicitly said that, but he could see the truth to her barb. He was just opening his mouth to apologize when she cut him off. "I never wanted anything other than common civility from you, I certainly wasn't trying to 'catch' you. Hopefully your high standards will help you get over someone from my 'sphere."

He felt her drawing away and his hold instinctively tightened. "That's it? Don't you feel you owe me an explanation?"

"First of all, I don't _owe_ you anything. You have been arrogant and rude since the day I met you. You're rarely civil, you don't seem to know how to have a conversation without domineering it, you only seem interested in how a relationship affects you. And then there's Jane."

"Jane?" He asked, his head spinning, "the dog?"

"Yes, Jane, the traumatized rescue dog who has always been afraid of male dogs until she met Bingley and suddenly she was like a carefree puppy again. Did you know that dogs can recognize the sound of specific cars? Did you know that every time you came to the park Jane pointed towards your car? Or that every time you drove by the park without stopping she sunk a little further back into her shell? Who drives past a dog park regularly for months without stopping in?"

No, he hadn't known all of that. He was embarassed that Elizabeth knew all of the times he'd almost gone back to the dog park and he stammered out a response: "I ... I couldn't decide what to do, so I figured the safest route was to do nothing. But sometimes I just couldn't help myself. It was oddly soothing just driving by a place that I knew you were."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes before she spoke again. "See, selfish. Have you even given Bingley any exercise recently or just teased him with not-quite trips to the dog park? And nothing highlights your selfishness more than your behavior to George Wickham. You ruined his life, his livelihood, and went against your own father's wishes for his role in the company."

Darcy's hands loosened in shock, and he cried: "This is really what you think of me?"

Elizabeth broke free and delivered the final parting blow of: "You are the last man in the world I could ever see myself dating." Then she walked away from him, trying to minimize the scene they'd no doubt made. Darcy turned the other direction and headed for the exit, she obviously didn't want his company and she had to stay until the end of the event. He would leave apparently his absence was the only thing she wanted that he could give her right now. Richard caught his eye with a questioning look but he shook his head no and proceeded to his room alone.

Once he reached the safety of solitude he sank into a chair and indulged himself in grief for a while. The only woman he'd ever really loved hated him. He felt a bitter dark despair wrap around him. This feeling, right here, was why he didn't want to fall in love in the first place. He didn't want to need anybody so much that they could hurt him this much. She hated him and it seemed there was nothing he could do to fix it. With her heated accusations she'd even succeeded in making him hate himself. He hated that his manners were so stiff that she'd believed George Wickham over him. _Wickham,_ he sneered, he hated George Wickham most of all.

He shot up in the bed. He couldn't defend himself against her opinion of himself – if someone accuses you of being selfish and proud and not caring about the feelings of others, a response of 'no, you're wrong' would only confirm that belief – but he sure as hell could set her straight about George Wickham. Whatever George had told her obviously was not the truth and leaving her unaware could open her up to danger. Relieved to have an active employment, he sat down at the desk and wrote her a note on the ridiculous Rosings stationary that his aunt kept in all of the guest rooms. Seven drafts, three breakdowns, half a bottle of whisky, one anxious visit from Richard, and several hours later, he sealed the envelope and wrote her name reverently on the front.

This task done, he laid down to attempt to sleep, but the bitter despair plagued him again. She hated him. She thought he was selfish! Him! He spent more money per year on charitable donations than her annual salary! He gave up his youth, devoted his twenties to raising a young sister and managing Pemberley in order to keep his father's legacy alive! He ... hadn't actually thought about Elizabeth's feelings once in all of his months of agonizing about her.

He'd worried about how she could affect his life without even considering her life. Even tonight, he'd fixated on how well she could fit into 'his' world, but he usually hated these functions. In his vision of the future with her she'd been his wife, his lover, his companion at charity events. She'd be there to greet him when he came home, there to give Georgiana advice and guidance. She'd be the mother to his children. June f***ing Cleaver.

None of these scenarios involved her keeping the job that was clearly important to her. He knew from Collins that she regularly volunteered at the shelter as well. Would she still have time for these things? Would she still be the same Elizabeth Bennet that he'd fallen in love with if he tried to force her into that mold? What attracted him to her in the first place was how different she was from the other women that vied for his attention: she was neither overly deferential nor cloyingly possessive. She was willing to voice her own opinions, to disagree with him or engage in lively debate. She was funny and witty and vibrant partially because she enjoyed life without caring about her image or what others thought.

There, lying in the dark in his wrinkled tux, he swore to himself that he'd make an effort to change. He didn't want to be selfish and disapproving anymore, those traits had chased off the woman he loved. He wanted to become worthy of a woman like her. When sleep alluded him that night, instead of counting sheep he counted off all of the things he would never want to change about her. He drifted off somewhere around the sixth time he'd listed her eyes.


	7. Ch7: Awakening

Elizabeth rolled over and pawed at her phone to turn off the alarm. Five thirty was way to early to be awake the morning after the ball. However, the vendors would start arriving at ten to pick up the rented tables and linens. Luckily, Catherine DeBurgh had made it clear before she retired for the evening that she was not to be disturbed until at least noon today so if Elizabeth could manage to get her portion of the clean up completed early, she could be done and on the road before she had to hear a single criticism from that woman today.

The rest of the event had gone as well as can be expected of a night of drinking and spending to excess. They had surpassed their initial fundraising goal, though they had fallen short of their stretch goal. After the results of the silent auction were announced, Lady Catherine and her ilk spent the rest of the evening either bragging about their successes or sulking over their losses and comparing the sizes of their yachts. The younger socialites, who had been avoiding her for most of the evening, swarmed around Elizabeth pumping her for information. Apparently William Darcy rarely danced and never lost his temper and tonight he had done both with Elizabeth then stormed out of the ball. This made her a target for the barbs of the women who felt they had a better claim on him and an object of interest to the men who wanted to see what the fuss was about. Elizabeth had no interest or patience for either and had done her best to fend them off until Richard had taken it upon himself to divert their attention with wild stories explaining his cousin's behavior.

After a quick shower she met Charlotte in the kitchen of the carriage house turned guest house that they'd stayed in for some coffee before they headed over to the main house for cleanup. "So..." Charlotte asked as they walked through the cold, "are you going to tell me what happened last night, or ...?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Elizabeth lied. She didn't know what to say and didn't want to disrupt the peace of the early morning air with her anger and confusion.

"Fine, but some day..." Elizabeth remained silent as they entered the main house and met Richard in the ballroom.

Lizzie was knee deep in dirty linens sorting napkins from tablecloths when Darcy came in, flustered and rumpled wearing his tux shirt and pants from the evening before. Even when she'd convinced him to wear jeans and a tee shirt to the dog park they'd been pristine and wrinkle free, now he looked like a mess. Apparently all it had taken for him to loosen up was to utterly break his spirit, the thought left a bitter taste in her mouth. "Would you please read this?" He asked timidly. She nodded and he bowed his head as he handed it to her and left.

She stared at the letter for a few seconds before blinking and looking around her. Richard and Charlotte both hastily looked away and bustled about folding tables trying to be inconspicuous but confirming to Elizabeth that they'd witnessed the whole scene. She self-consciously slipped the letter into her back pocket and went back to sorting.

It was hours later, as she was pulled over at a rest stop beside the highway with a full tank of gass and a fresh cup of tea that she allowed herself to take the letter out of her pocket and read it.

_Dear Elizabeth,_

_Don't worry, I promise that this isn't a love poem or a romantic plea or anything of that sort. You've made your feelings very clear and I respect that. There are a few aspects of our conversation last night that I did not have the ability or self control to explain last night. Other than my general disposition, you made two primary complaints. The first was regarding Jane and Bingley and the second regarding Mr. Wickham._

_Regarding the dogs: I was not aware of Jane's trauma. I have only ever seen her happy and energetic. While Bingley certainly did show a marked interest in Jane, she appeared just as playful with other dogs and I certainly didn't mean to hurt her. At the risk of sinking myself even further in your opinion, I don't believe I paid much heed to their emotions when I ceased my trips to the park. As to Bingley's exercise, I have a rather sizable backyard in which he runs daily and either myself or my sister often indulge him in a game of fetch. I know you think me a villain, but my dog is well cared for and I am sorry if I gave you reason to doubt that._

_While I would never insult you by trivializing the well being of our dogs, your second accusation against me was far weightier. My history with George Wickham is long and fractious. Since I don't know what he's told you, I'll just give you all of the pertinent facts. George Wickham's father was a senior partner at Pemberley and good friends with my own father. George and I grew up together as good friends. In high school, however, the nature of our friendship changed. We began to drift apart into separate friend groups almost immediately but the real change came when Mr. Wickham died of lung cancer in our sophomore year. My family rallied around him and George came to live with us. Though he'd partied before, at this time George fell into bad habits and began heavily drinking and using drugs. My parents did their best to support him, rationalizing that it was part of the grieving process. On their own I could overlook these habits particularly at such a time, but as a member of his own peer group I could see more of his change in character than my parents. He grew jaded and began manipulating those around him. I particularly found his treatment of the girls he went out with abhorrent and distanced myself from him as much as possible._

_Although his father had a good job and made good money, his mother had been extravagant and spent money faster than it came in. When we were in middle school, she managed to clear out what was left of their savings and disappeared. The family's finances never fully recovered and in the end Mr. Wickham had to sell off his shares of Pemberley to pay the medical bills. The poor man died with nothing to leave his son. My own father, out of true affection and a sense of duty to his godson, put George through college and even hired him into a lower management role at Pemberley after graduation – even though his GPA barely allowed him to graduate. Despite any evidence to the contrary, my father didn't believe in handing over the keys to the castle without experience so I was hired at the same level as George. Unfortunately, his performance was barely adequate. His direct supervisors never suggested him for promotion and in spite of his partiality, even my father couldn't justify promoting him. While I will admit that I had significant advantages in my favor, I worked hard, excelled at my job, and rose quickly through the ranks._

_Five years ago, my life drastically changed when my parents were killed in a car accident. At this time the board named me CEO because of a combination of factors including my job performance, the fact that I'd become a majority shareholder, and the fact that a Darcy had always been the figurehead of the company. George was enraged and came to my office demanding what was 'due' to him from my father's wishes. I explained that his current position was secure, as per my father's wishes, but that further promotion would be based on merit. He stormed out of my office and outside of some vicious water cooler talk and regular requests for raises or loans I thought the matter had been settled._

_The circumstances I am about to explain are covered by a non-disclosure agreement for the protection of my sister and my company, so I trust that you understand the need for secrecy. When my parents died my sister was only fourteen. Since she was a minor I became her guardian and my cousin Richard and I became trustees of her inheritance until she came of age. Although she will not take on her full role at Pemberley until she graduates from college, when she turned eighteen she came into partial control of her inheritance, including an equal share in the company to my own. George, realizing that I would not give him financial assistance or facilitate his rise in the company, attempted at that point to gain the same from my sister._

_Although she was nearly ten years younger than us, George had lived with us for three years while she was young and she loved and trusted him almost as another brother. Using his considerable charm, he morphed that love and seduced my sister. He played the role of 'star-crossed lover' by convincing her that I had somehow stolen his father's shares in the company and blocked his promotions. While at a company retreat, he apparently convinced her to elope with him to Vegas without telling me. They finished the team building exercises for the night then went to their individual rooms to pack._

_We were all woken up by Georgiana's screams. Apparently George had 'celebrated' his way through the mini bar and passed out while waiting for his bride. When Georgiana slipped into his room Killer thought she was an intruder and attacked. Thankfully George woke up and called the dog off, but not before he'd sunk his teeth into her and fractured her arm. We found out in the ensuing investigation that George had amassed some fairly heavy gambling debts and had trained Killer as a guard dog to keep away his more persistent creditors. As you may surmise, my reaction to Killer that day at Netherfield was based on his past behaviors and not his breed as a whole._

_George kept up the role of doting fiancée for roughly a day while Georgiana was in the hospital until my lawyers made it clear to him that she had only partial control of her inheritance until she turned twenty one. Georgiana insisted that George would happily sign a prenuptial agreement because he loved her and didn't care about the money or the stupid feud between us. I will never forget the way her face fell as he dropped her hand, made some excuse, and slowly backed out of the room. She was devastated. Even now, over a year later, she's not fully herself._

_We discovered the next day as part of the investigation of incident that he'd also embezzled money from Pemberley. It was enough for us to press charges, but low enough to stay under the radar. He charmed his sentence down to only six months. Of course he was fired from Pemberley, and he's had trouble finding another job in finance with a criminal record. While the conviction is a matter of public record, you won't find anything on the attack. We didn't want Georgiana's name attached to the scandal and since the attack happened at a company retreat it could have impacted our reputation if it was publicly known. Luckily we've managed to keep that quiet with the NDA._

_Please believe me that a sense of duty to my sister and my company was the only reason I did not tell you when I saw Wickham with you at Netherfield. If you wish to verify this account, please feel free to apply to my cousin Richard. I believe he will be assisting with the cleanup efforts this morning and will be available to you._

_I'm not sure how much contact you've had with Wickham, or how injured you may be by this narrative. I do know how charming he can be and my family is full of intelligent people who were utterly fooled by him. I could not bear to see you injured in the same way. I wish you nothing but happiness,_

_Sincerely, William Darcy_

Elizabeth's hands shook as she read. His account of Bingley and Jane was everything she expected. He was presumptuous and selfish and didn't care about the consequences of his actions on the well being of their pets. Initially she was still too angry to believe his account of Mr. Wickham. His justification of his own rise in the company and George's stagnation seemed weak. _Of course_ the boss's son happened to be the best qualified and hardest working employee. Nepotism had nothing to do with it. Her righteous indignation began to deflate somewhat when his sister came into the story but that account was so far fetched that she had trouble believing it. Who could seduce someone that much younger _and_ that they'd known as a baby?

Elizabeth didn't like the responses to that question her own mind conjured up, so she decided a second reading of the letter was in order. After this second perusal, she pulled out her phone to look up the embezzlement case, and sure enough it was a matter of record. If this much was true, why would he make up the part about his sister? She had seen the panic in his eyes when Killer barked at her at Netherfield. It was probably the first genuine, unmasked emotion she'd seen from him.

After a third read through she began questioning her own ability to read people. Wickham had told her that story on the _first_ day she'd met him and she'd believed him. Since then she'd seen him a handful of times at the dog park over the last several months but not consistently and never on a Wednesday. Had he intentionally sought her out while trying to avoid Darcy? Their conversation was never deep, always flirtatious, and the only personal topics he ever brought up had to do with Darcy.

Her judgment of Darcy was even worse. She'd been so certain of her opinion of Darcy but had she ever really known him? Sure, he was awkward, had the tendency to speak without thinking about how it might impact others, and he was selfish ... but did all of this add up to him being the snobby asshole she'd long considered him? Would that person trust her with confidential information or try so hard to protect his sister?

Did she even know herself? She'd always considered her ability to read people as one of her best qualities. She had a minor in psychology and yet she'd villainized one man because he dismissed her and believed another because he'd flattered her! If she was that bad at reading humans, what did that say about her ability to read animals? She replayed the initial introduction to George and Killer in her mind. She'd initially read the pit's body language and growl at Lydia and been on her guard, moving to intervene. All it took was a smile, a couple of innuendos, and a few complements from his owner and she'd all but canonized the dog when Darcy tried to warn her of his past behavior. Was she actually any good at her job?

This swirling chasm of self-doubt was, thankfully, interrupted by a text from her mother asking when she'd be back to pick up the dogs. Elizabeth sent off a quick reply, put the car into gear, and resumed her journey.

An hour later she opened the door to her parent's house and was instantly greeted by four happy dogs. "Lizzy, is that you?" Her mother called from the kitchen.

"Yeah mom, thank you again for watching my girls this weekend," she said as she made her way to her mother.

"Oh, they were perfect angels ... except for when your dad teases them and gets them all riled up at once, he has no compassion for my poor nerves."

Her dad emerged from his study and kissed his wife on the cheek, "I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends." Her mother swatted him playfully with a kitchen towel as he moved to kiss Lizzy on the top of her head, just as he'd done every time she'd come home since she could toddle out of the door.

"I hope you restrained yourself at least somewhat, you don't want them to be afraid of you," Lizzy lightly chastised.

"Nothing of the sort!" Mr. Bennet responded with mock affront.

"Oh no!" Mrs. Bennet added in a baby voice, "your girls love visiting grandma and grandpa!"

Elizabeth inwardly cringed at the application of those titles to dogs, but she let her mother have that small concession. "I hope you didn't spoil them too much," Elizabeth said, suspiciously eyeing the matching new rhinestone collars that all four dogs wore.

"Of course I did, that's what grandmas are for," she said as she slipped Lydia a piece of chicken from the slow cooker. "Anyway, it's not like I have anyone else to spoil. Speaking of, how was the ball? Did you meet any handsome young men?"

Elizabeth sighed and dropped her head onto the kitchen table. "Yes...?" She responded hesitantly.

"Oh! Tell me all about it!" Mrs. Bennet squealed. Elizabeth just moaned.

"Uh, oh," her father chuckled, "that doesn't sound promising ... do tell."

"There's this guy that I met over the summer ..." Elizabeth told the abridged version of the story to her parents, avoiding too much detail lest her mother decided to intervene. The story was punctuated by occasional giggles from her mother or teasing from her father, but just confiding the whole mess to someone else was cathartic for Elizabeth. "... and now that I've read his letter I'm starting to doubt everything. Am I really a decent judge of character? Have I just gone and broke a good man's heart for no reason?"

True to form, her father laughed and ruffled her hair, "cheer up Lizzy, a girl likes to be crossed a little in love now and then."

"It does make it more romantic!" Mrs. Bennet confirmed.

"And if he's too squeamish to put up with a bit of absurdity, he doesn't really love you." Mr. Bennet added.

"I still don't know that I _want_ him to be in love with me, but I do wish I'd been a bit kinder in my rejection. In any case, it's unlikely I'll even see Darcy again."

At this her mother's head shot up and she asked in a tiny voice, "Darcy?" Elizabeth winced, kicking herself for saying his name in front of her mother. She got up and began rifling through a stack of magazines until she finally found the one she wanted and began frantically flipping through the pages. "William Darcy? CEO of Pemberley LLC?" Mrs. Bennet slammed the magazine down in front of Elizabeth to reveal a glossy photo of Darcy with a large red 11 indicating his place in the magazine's list of most eligible bachelors.

"How do you even know his name mom?" Elizabeth asked in resignation, feeling all of the comfort of confiding in her mother fading away.

"When you've got unmarried daughters, you pay attention to the single gentlemen available."

"You know the odds of me even running into one of these guys are low, right? And Kathy isn't even out of college yet!"

"Well, number 43 took Mrs. Long's niece to coffee once, so I knew it _could_ happen!" Mrs. Bennet wailed, "couldn't you have tried to like him at least a little? The man has three houses and a condo downtown! Think of the clothes you could have bought, and the fancy cars..."

Mr. Bennet looked disapprovingly at his wife, "Fran! You know that none of that would make Elizabeth happy if she didn't love the guy. She's not some gold digger!"

"But..." Mrs. Bennet began, but withered under her husband's glare and sighed. "I suppose a declaration of love from number 11 is better than coffee with number 43 even if it doesn't go any further."

Mr. Bennet shook his head and turned back to his daughter, "Lizzy, don't jump into a relationship unless you can actually respect your partner." Elizabeth noticed the pleading look in his eyes and read his silent subtext that he knew from experience what happened if you didn't have that mutual respect in marriage.


	8. Ch8: Confrontation

Elizabeth faltered somewhat through her first couple of appointments on Monday morning, but as the day progressed she fell into stride and regained her confidence that she was in fact good at her job. By Tuesday morning she was back to her habitual confidence and routine, even if her thoughts did occasionally stray back to Darcy's injured expression or the words of his letter.

When she got back from lunch she pulled up her next appointment and was confronted with the rather lengthy file for Anne DeBurgh. Elizabeth had hoped to have a reprieve from dealing with 'Lady' Catherine after the ball ended, but she would have to grit her teeth and do her job. She'd seen the fussy Persian before for behaviors that were absolutely normal for a cat, but didn't fit into Mrs. DeBurgh's rigid ideas.

At precisely one, a confused vet tech led the austere woman into Elizabeth's office. "Mrs. DeBurgh, it's lovely to see you again."

"Miss Bennet, I'm sure you know why I'm here."

"I'm not sure I can account for it, I don't see Anne with you and the notation for today's appointment just says 'seriously displeased.'" Elizabeth had been trying to figure out if that referred to the cat or her owner, but Mrs. DeBurgh's anger answered that question for her.

"I am not here for my cat, I will never again trust the welfare of my cat to the likes of you after what you did this weekend!"

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth asked, unsure what a charity ball had to do with her cat's welfare.

"You ought to know, that I am not to be trifled with. But however insincere you may choose to be, you shall not find me so. Don't think I missed how shamefully you threw yourself at my nephew at the ball! I allowed you into my home, I put my faith in you! Only to have you turn around and seduce my nephew."

"Mrs. DeBurgh, I did no such thing."

"I would not suppose the truth of it possible had I not seen it with my own eyes. I would never accuse William of dallying with the hired help. But your arts and allurements may, in a moment of infatuation, have made him forget what he owes to himself and to all his family. You may have drawn him in." She pulled out a glossy photograph from her briefcase of Elizabeth and Darcy dancing at the ball and slammed it down on the desk. It must have been taken before the argument because Darcy was holding her close with his eyes closed and a tender smile while Elizabeth laughed.

"First off, I am _not_ the hired help. I am a professional who volunteered to plan a charity event for a good cause – which, I will add, was a huge success – Second, my personal life is none of your business."

"I am almost the nearest relation _he_ has in the world, and am entitled to know all his dearest concerns."

"But you are not entitled to know mine; nor will such behavior as this, ever induce me to be explicit."

"Let me be rightly understood. This match, to which you have the presumption to aspire, can never take place. No, never. He is destined to marry a woman of his own sphere who will be a credit to his family name."

"In that case you can have no reason to suppose he will make an offer to me." Elizabeth's mind reeled at the rapid escalation this conversation took from a single dance to marriage.

"Oh, he might fool around with you for a while, but I'm here to make sure you know you'll never get what you want. Even if he were to lose his senses entirely and propose, it won't be worth it for you. His money will be locked behind an airtight prenuptial agreement and you will never be accepted by our society. If you're looking to claw your way up the social ladder, think again. You will be censured, slighted, and despised, by everyone connected with him. Your alliance will be a disgrace; your name will never even be mentioned by any of us."

"These are heavy misfortunes," replied Elizabeth. "But the wife of Mr. Darcy must have such extraordinary sources of happiness necessarily attached to her situation, that she could, upon the whole, have no cause to repine."

"So you admit that you're after his money then!" Mrs. DeBurgh said triumphantly.

"I have said nothing about his money, but it is unfortunate that you immediately equate any happiness attached to marrying your nephew with his money."

"Obstinate, headstrong girl! I am ashamed of you! Is this your gratitude for my attentions to you these last months? Is nothing due to me on that score? Let us sit down. You are to understand, Miss Bennet, that I came here with the determined resolution of carrying my purpose; nor will I be dissuaded from it. I have not been used to submit to any person's whims. I have not been in the habit of brooking disappointment."

"That will make your situation at present more pitiable; but it will have no effect on me."

"I will not be interrupted. Hear me in silence. I recognize the upstart pretensions of a young woman without family, connections, or fortune when I see them. If you were sensible of your own good, you would not wish to quit the sphere in which you have been brought up."

"Mrs. DeBurgh, My father is a banker, your nephew is in finance, I'm not quite sure which sphere you're referring to."

"Your father is a branch manager at a local bank, my nephew heads a multi-national corporation. And what about your mother? Mr. Collins told me that she's never been able to hold down a job, don't think I don't know these things."

"Whatever my connections may be," said Elizabeth, "if your nephew does not object to them, they can be nothing to you. Look, regardless of my parents, I have a master's degree, I am an accredited animal behaviorist and I have a good job in my chosen field. I am financially independent and own my own home. I would rather spend my weekends actively contributing to the welfare of animals by volunteering at a shelter than attending parties in a pantomime of charity. I don't know what you think I'm trying to gain here, but you are wrong."

Mrs. DeBurgh took a moment to stare Elizabeth down while seething before spitting out: "tell me once for all, are you romantically involved with him?"

Every instinct in Elizabeth's battered skull was telling her not to back down to this bully, but she would not lie. "No, I am not."

The old dragon's chest puffed up and she leaned over Elizabeth's desk as if going in for the kill, "And will you promise me, never to enter into such an engagement?"

"I will make no promise of the kind."

"You are then resolved to have him?"

"I am somewhat offended on Darcy's bahalf that you consider him an object to be had. In any case, I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me."

"Do you know who I am? I'm not leaving till you have given me the assurance I require."

"In that case, you will be paying to cover my appointments for the rest of the afternoon, as it is you already owe $250 for this appointment."

"That's absurd, I didn't even bring my cat and you haven't given me what I came for."

"Nevertheless, you scheduled an appointment for my time and it was your decision to waste it. The clinic has a policy that all cancellations must be made at least twenty-four hours in advance or you will be billed."

"I am one of the biggest clients of this clinic!"

"And yet you are still bound by the rules, the same as every one else. I owe you nothing."

"And this is your real opinion! This is your final resolve! Very well. I shall now know how to act. Do not imagine, Miss Bennet, that your ambition will ever be gratified. I came to try you. I hoped to find you reasonable; but, depend upon it, I will carry my point."

Elizabeth sighed in exasperation as 'Lady' Catherine opened her door and began to huff out, "remember to stop at the desk and pay your bill on your way out," Elizabeth shouted after the retreating form. When she was alone, she sunk back into her chair grateful that she still had a half hour to calm down before her next appointment.


	9. Ch9: Return

Georgiana Darcy took a deep breath at the gate to Netherfield dog park to calm her nerves. It had been over a year since the attack, her wounds had healed and all that was left was a scar wrapping around her arm to remind her of how stupid and naive she'd been. Bingley nudged her arm in his impatience and she gathered her courage. She loved this goofy dog even in spite of the attack. Bingley wouldn't hurt her but she was still fighting a wave of anxiety over entering a space with a bunch of dogs she'd never met. The anxiety over William's love life didn't help the matter.

She had, of course, noted William's odd behavior for months. He'd always been reserved but Georgiana remembered him laughing and playing with her when she was little. When their parents died it was like her brother withdrew into himself. While she had in time begun to heal from her grief and return to life, William only seemed to hide more under a mask. His smiles became an endangered species that then went extinct following the attack and everything that happened with George. It killed Georgiana to know that her own foolish actions had sapped away the last of his joy. She'd been cautiously optimistic last summer when William's mood suddenly began to improve. For a couple of months he seemed almost happy, he'd loosened up, she'd even found him wearing jeans occasionally. He never told her what caused the change, but the way he said 'dog park' with a dreamy smile made her think he'd either found the portal to Narnia or fallen in love. Then just as suddenly his mood had shifted again to agitated and gloomy. She'd still occasionally find him smiling softly but more often than not it would morph into a scowl.

She'd thought it couldn't get worse until he'd come home from Aunt Catherine's function on Sunday devastated. He wouldn't tell her anything, just shut himself in his study with a bottle of scotch. He'd called into work on Monday and 'telecommuted' on Tuesday. He'd barely said ten words to her in days when Aunt Catherine descended on their house yesterday afternoon in a rage bellowing about the upstart harpy Elizabeth Bennet who was destroying William's future. Her intention was obviously to convince William to stay away from the girl, but her rant seemed to have the opposite effect. Her brother's energy seemed to rise as their aunt talked and he eventually shouted their aunt out of their house.

After that scene, Georgiana finally cornered William and made him tell her the whole story. She had tried to convince him to go talk to Elizabeth himself but even though their aunt's account of her meeting with Elizabeth gave him some chance to hope, he couldn't get past the fact that she'd told him to leave her alone just days before. Georgiana, however, had no such restrictions and William had informed her where Elizabeth would be on a Wednesday afternoon so here she was. At the very least she could apologize for her aunt's behavior and see if William's letter had made any difference. With a final sigh, she hesitantly opened the gate. Bingley raced in and immediately approached an adorable cocker spaniel who perked up at the sight of him.

* * *

Elizabeth was, admittedly, somewhat distracted today as she mechanically threw balls for the dogs. She'd been unable to shake the memories of her arguments with either Darcy or his aunt. So when a golden retriever who looked just like Bingley bounded up to Jane she thought that she might just be losing her mind. She looked around but there was no Darcy in sight and Jane hadn't pointed at the sound of his car like she usually did.

"Excuse me, are you Elizabeth Bennet?" Elizabeth turned around to find a girl about her height adressing her. She had lighter hair but stared at her with Darcy's eyes and Elizabeth's confusion lifted.

"Yes, that's me. Are you Georgiana Darcy?"

The girl nodded her head and looked nervously at the dogs around her before turning back to address her, "I understand my aunt visited you yesterday."

Elizabeth let out a weary sigh, "yes. If you're here to warn me away from your brother too you really don't need to bother."

The girl's shoulders slumped, "so there's really no chance then?"

Elizabeth realized that she'd misread Georgiana's purpose but she couldn't give her the answer she wanted any more than she could have to Catherine DeBurgh. "I'm not sure what all you've heard, but some bridges just can't be rebuilt. Anyway, I really think you all should just leave Darcy in peace to live his own life."

"Of course. I ... I just wanted to apologize for my aunt's behavior. If she said even half of what she ranted to us about to your face ... I'm sorry and I just thought you should know that not all of our family share her opinions. Especially not my brother."

"I don't know ... while he wasn't as angry or vindictive as your aunt, your brother indicated some similar thoughts about my station in life as well. I don't know how a relationship could ever work if one member thinks they're better than the other."

"He may have said something that sounded vaguely similar, but when he's flustered things just come out wrong and he speaks without thinking. He's been shut up in his study for four days with a bottle of scotch moping about losing his only chance. Aunt Catherine left behind a picture of the two of you from the ball and William has already has it framed on his desk – he replaced a photo of Aunt Catherine and him at his graduation."

Elizabeth cringed, "contrary to what you may have heard about my cruelty, I didn't want to hurt him. I don't want him to be in pain, but I also don't see how a relationship could possibly work out if he thinks I'm so inferior to him."

"Didn't his letter change your mind even a little?"

"Of course it did. I was obviously wrong about ..." Lizzie trailed off as she looked at the spot on Georgiana's arm that she kept subconsciously covering with her other hand even though it was covered with layers of clothing and a coat "... certain things, and I'd like to apologize for my harsh words but that doesn't mean that everything would magically work out."

"But he's no longer the 'last man in the world' you'd consider?" Georgiana asked hopefully.

Elizabeth thought it over, she didn't want to give false hope, but she wasn't entirely indifferent to his attentions either. "Perhaps not the last."

"So if he were to come back to Netherfield next Wednesday?"

"It is a public park, he is welcome to come if he chooses." Georgiana raised an eyebrow at her, indicating that she knew Elizabeth was intentionally missing the point. "Ok, yes, I'll talk to him if he comes next week, clear the air. But don't pin too much hope to this."

Georgiana gave an excited squeal and clapped her hands, prompting Lydia and Kitty to investigate. Georgiana flinched away even from the small friendly dogs and Elizabeth realized how much courage it must have taken the girl, who was clearly still nervous around dogs, to come here today. "Perhaps you should come too, get acclimated to interacting with other dogs again."

Georgiana looked down and rubbed her arm, "I know it's silly, but how can I tell which dogs I can trust?"

Elizabeth took pity on the girl and decided to start her off slow, "I hear you're fond of music, why don't we start you off with Mary. She's old, gentle, and not very active anymore, but she loves music."

* * *

William Darcy parked the car but remained frozen in place, one hand with a white knuckled grip still on the steering wheel. Georgiana had come home last Wednesday, told him he'd have to shape up if he wanted a second chance with Elizabeth, then forced him to shower and shave before she'd tell him more about her trip to Netherfield. He'd spent most of the last week trying to be better. He'd payed attention to his interactions and tried to see them through her eyes. He'd made an attempt to be nicer to people, to filter his comments, to think about the consequences of his words and the feelings of others. It was surprisingly exhausting and yet he already felt the benefits in his relationship with his employees.

Georgiana had told him that Elizabeth wanted him to come today, but he still didn't quite believe it. What if he walked in there and she still hated him as much as she had at the ball? He didn't think he could take another argument like that. "Will," Georgiana said, drawing him out of his fears, "you know Jane has probably already alerted Elizabeth that you're here. Sitting in the car won't get you anywhere." He sighed, acknowledging the truth to that and unbuckled his seat belt. As they approached the gate Georgiana slipped her hand in his and he knew that she was as nervous as he was due to lingering fears since the attack. Remembering Elizabeth's criticisms, he did his best to soothe his sister's nerves, "we don't have to be here, we could go home if there are too many dogs for you to handle." It would be painful to come this far to see Elizabeth and turn and walk away, but he didn't want to put Georgiana in an uncomfortable situation either.

"And leave Elizabeth hanging?" She tried to sound brave, but he heard the tremble in her voice. Bingley strengthened her argument with a whine and Georgiana gathered up her courage, "no. You're not using me as an excuse."

He smiled reassuringly at her, "ok, but you could go back to the car if it gets to be too much."

She smiled gratefully for a moment then pushed him forward, "stop stalling," and together they faced their fears.

Pushing through the gate he was struck with a sense of familiarity tinged with change. The green grass and lush trees he'd left in August were now brown and barren. Elizabeth was there, running around with the dogs. Her tee shirt and leggings were replaced with jeans and a puffy winter coat. Her curls peeked out from a knit cap with two pompoms at the top and her matching scarf hung loosely from her neck. Her cheeks were ruddy in the cold air and her smile felt like coming home. That smile faltered somewhat when she saw him approach, but she met him part way.

"Hello Elizabeth." Now that she'd dismantled his world he felt all the more awkward and formal and out of place in hers.

"Darcy, it's ... nice to see you," it sounded forced and he doubted her sincerity.

"Is it? Georgiana said ... but I wasn't sure ..."

"No, it's good, we should talk," Elizabeth said somewhat uncomfortably.

Georgiana looked between the two for a moment, squeezed his hand reassuringly, and said, "I'll just be over there." She then joined Mary under a tree .

"That's progress," he said, watching his sister pet the dog tentatively.

"Yeah, it took some work last week, but Mary's content to just lie there and cuddle, she's safe."

They fell silent for several minutes while he tried to gather the courage to apologize, to explain, to say ... anything to improve their situation. He'd just started with "Elizabeth ..." at the same moment she said his name. "Please, go ahead ..." he urged.

"Look, we could both apologize for our behavior at the ball, get lost in explanations that just end up opening old wounds and insulting each other again. Or ... could we just start over? Hang out at the dog park, talk about silly topics, pretend that we don't have so much baggage between us?"

William took a moment to consider. He couldn't forget how terribly he'd spoken to her, or her reproofs, how else would he change his own behavior? He also knew that one of those things she wanted to ignore was the fact that he loved her. He knew that he couldn't just stop loving her, but he could be patient, give her time to catch up without prejudice clouding her judgment. "I'd like that," he said.

* * *

For the next month they met weekly at the dog park. Every week Elizabeth watched him walk through those gates at exactly 4:00 with a smile and an adoring gaze. Sometimes Georgiana came with him, sometimes she was was 'busy' – though Elizabeth suspected she just wanted to give them some time alone.

Elizabeth could tell that Darcy was making a greater effort to talk to the other people at the park as well as her, though he did so with effort. She was beginning to believe that he was, like his sister, rather shy. With Georgiana's soft speech, averted gaze, and gentle blushes it was easy to detect. However, she soon realized that Darcy's commanding tone and avoidance of people outside of his own 'circle' were just ways to ease his social anxieties. It made her feel special that both of the reticent Darcys now seemed comparatively comfortable in her presence.

They bantered, they had lighthearted arguments about books or movies, or which direction the toilet paper should hang. Elizabeth had really come to admire his debating skills and she found immense satisfaction in shifting her own arguments to counter his. They told each other about their days and stories about their childhoods. They talked about everything ... everything but the elephant in the room. He loved her and she still didn't quite know what she felt for him.

One day near the end of March Georgiana came alone. Elizabeth wasn't surprised at his absence, Darcy had told her he had to meet a potential client who was only flying in for the day and wouldn't make it this week. It seemed silly to admit, even to herself, that she felt a pang of disappointment at his absence.

"Hey!" Georgiana greeted as she flopped down next to Mary.

"Hi!" Elizabeth called back as she disentangled herself from the group of dogs and joined her beneath the tree, Jane and Bingley joined them while Lydia and Kitty continued the game of tug of war between themselves (Lydia was trying to steal Kitty's favorite toy again).

"William has been moping around all week," Georgiana said and rolled her eyes, "you'd swear from his expression that he was donating a kidney rather than just missing a week at the park."

"Well, it is important to keep up a routine," Elizabeth laughed, trying to ignore the implications that missing a week of her company sent him into a mood suggested.

"It's his birthday this weekend and we're having a little party at Pemberley on Friday, will you please do us all a favor and come? He hates parties and being the center of attention to begin with and apparently he needs his weekly dose of banter in order to function."

"Well, I suppose I can manage it if it would save the guests from his grumpy glare."

"Thank God! That smile of yours is a public service."

Elizabeth tried for her usual lightness through the rest of their conversation but was somewhat unsure of herself. This would be the first time they'd seen each other outside of the park since the ball. They'd reached a good balance here, but she didn't know how it would transfer into the real world. Into _his_ world.


	10. Ch10: Pemberley

Elizabeth felt self conscious as she walked through the glass doors onto the marble floors of Pemberley LLC. Georgiana met her in the lobby and took her into the party, depositing her at the bar. "Ok, I'm going to try to pull him out of his office, will you be ok here on your own for a bit?"

Elizabeth laughed, "I think I'll survive."

"Good, I'll send you a text if I need reinforcement."

Elizabeth ordered her drink and settled in to people watching. It had only been a couple of minutes since Georgiana had left her when a handsome man with wavy blond hair sat at the stool next to her and gave her a thousand watt smile, something about him seemed vaguely familiar. "Hello, you must be new here. It's always the same people at these things, but I'm certain I would remember an angel like you."

"Do you often catalog the attendees at parties?"

He tilted his head and replied, "only the pretty ones," with another charming smile. All of a sudden Elizabeth figured out who he reminded her of.

"Oh my god! You're Charles Bingley, aren't you?"

The man looked at her confused, "have we met?"

"No," she laughed, "but you remind me very much of a certain golden retriever I know!"

"Ah, so you know Darcy then? How do I match up to my canine counterpart?"

"Fairly well, I'd say. Though I'm glad you've refrained from licking my face upon introduction the way he did."

"Well, the night is young," he said flirtatiously, Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"So how do you know Darcy?" He asked.

"Mostly from the dog park. Canine Bingley is in love with my dog Jane, you know."

Recognition flashed in his eyes, "wait, Elizabeth? From the dog park?"

"That's me," she said, somewhat dreading what he'd heard about her.

* * *

"Come on, William. It's your own Birthday party, you can't just hide in your office all evening." Georgiana argued, gently tugging on his arm.

"Can't I?" He asked irritably, "you know I hate these things."

"You know if it was my choice we'd be at home in our pajamas eating cake. This was the board, and if I have to suffer through it, so should you." William groaned. He knew he was being a childish, grumpy, hermit but having missed the one social engagement he looked forward to each week he didn't want to throw himself into the kind of event he hated. It was his birthday after all. "It may not be so bad. You may meet someone you like."

He snorted, "you know damn well that there's no hope for that. The one person I want to see won't be there."

"Won't she?" Georgiana asked slyly.

That finally got him out of his chair. "She's here? How? What did you do?"

His sister just laughed as she moved out of his office, "you'll have to come down to the party to see."

"Georgiana Darcy, you better not be joking about this," he called after her as he put his jacked back on and tidied himself before heading down. The prospect of seeing Elizabeth Bennet was about the only thing that could make him look forward to a work social event. They'd made so much progress getting to know each other that it gave him hope for the future. However, the confinement of their meetings to one day a week at the dog park was starting to wear on him. He'd been in love with Elizabeth for so long now that an hour a week just wasn't enough – particularly if he had to miss that hour one week. This week had made embarrassingly clear to him how vital Elizabeth was to his own happiness.

His eyes found her as soon as he entered the room. She was seated at the bar with Charles and Georgiana. As he approached, Georgiana tapped the screen of her phone and Elizabeth and Charles laughed as she showed it to them. "Elizabeth," he breathed her name as she turned toward him and smiled and it felt like a weight lifted from his shoulders.

"Happy Birthday!" She said, giving him a half hug.

"I didn't know you'd be here," he said, smiling and restraining himself from pulling her further into his arms.

"Well, Georgiana informed me that my presence was vital to the party so I couldn't miss it."

"I couldn't agree more, will you dance with me?" He asked, longing to have her to himself and seeing no other option for that without just dragging her out of the party all together. She nodded and he took her hand, moving to the center of the room where a few others were dancing.

"So," she asked as he took her into his arms, "do you always have a birthday party with fifty or so of your closest friends?"

"My closest friends were those assembled at the bar a moment ago with the addition of Richard. This," he gestured around the room with his head, "is the board of the company showing off to it's biggest investors and socialites. My birthday is merely an excuse."

"So, not your ideal evening then," she said with that bewitching sparkle in her eye.

"I can't find fault with it at the moment," he said trailing his hand up and down her back, "though I imagine it will become tedious once I have to make my rounds." They fell silent as Darcy imagined how much more enjoyable those rounds would be with Elizabeth at his side making witty banter.

"What was on Georgiana's phone that made you all laugh as I came down?" He asked, curiosity getting the better of him and hoping it wasn't pictures of him in the bath as a baby or that time he'd gotten frosted tips in High School.

"One minute fifty two seconds," she said with a quirk of her eyebrow, "Georgiana spent ten minutes trying to coax you down to the party with no success, but it took you less than two minutes to arrive after she'd told you I was here."

"I missed you," he replied truthfully without thinking and for a moment he feared her response.

"Nine days," she laughed, "you saw me nine days ago."

"Nine very long days," he repeated.

"Georgiana said you've been a bear, apparently my presence was required to protect everyone else from your mood."

"And look how easily you've accomplished that feat."

She sighed and leaned her head lightly on his chest. He barely allowed himself to breathe lest she move away.

* * *

As she listened to the rapid beat of his heart, Elizabeth couldn't ignore the elephant any longer. Darcy loved her and she ... well, she could go that far yet but she was content here in his arms. Was that enough though? She could wait, but would she ever really know? She decided to take that gamble. "So what you're saying is that you need more frequent doses?"

She leaned back to look in his eyes and saw the moment his expression softened when he caught her meaning. "Elizabeth ..." he began and she quickly put her finger to his lips to stop him from saying whatever terribly romantic declaration he was about to say. That was a bit too fast for her.

"Saturdays," she said, trying to keep some footing before this whole thing swept her away. "I spend some time at Netherfield most Saturday mornings. Early, 8am, before I head to the shelter." He looked away and nodded his head, his hopes deflated from a moment ago. Though that was her intended effect, she couldn't bear to see it so she turned his face back to her, kissed his cheek and added: "Let's take this slow, ok? Let's enjoy tonight, meet tomorrow morning, and see where it goes from there?"

He kissed her forehead and nodded, "It's more than I could have hoped for a half hour ago."

As he was walking her home later that evening she reflected on their night. She'd stayed by his side for the rest of the evening. He introduced her to his various colleagues and she made light conversation. When she felt him growing tense or terse with any particular group, she would steer them back to Charles and Georgiana for a social rest. He seemed reluctant to let go of her. If she wasn't resting her hand in the crook of his arm he would lightly place a hand on the small of her back or squeeze her hand, all gestures that a month ago she might have viewed as possessive and presumptuous. Tonight she realized that he did so more out of comfort than anything else.

Charles's sister, Caroline, had made her way into the party fashionably late and immediately tried to latch on to Darcy's arm and pull him away from Elizabeth's side. For the first time Elizabeth was the one to grab his hand and squeeze earning her a grateful look from Darcy and a death glare from Caroline. Looking back, she couldn't believe the woman's presumption, to hang off of a man in front of his date like that.

Elizabeth stopped and Darcy looked at her questioningly. "Did we just have our first date?" She asked him.

"It sure felt that way to me," he said, smiling more broadly than she'd ever seen him smile before and slipping his arm around her waist. Then he added more sheepishly, "I was afraid that if I said something sooner it might break the spell and you'd leave."

"I stayed by your side of my own volition tonight. No magic required," she quipped and he gave her such an intense look that she thought he might kiss her right there ... on the sidewalk framed by the fluorescent glow of the late night burger joint's front window. She felt it was best to lighten the mood for a bit so she started walking again, tugging on his arm for him to follow. "You do realize that this means that Georgiana asked me out on our first date."

"I, for one am glad she did. Who knows how long I would have waited, but can you blame a guy for being cautious after my first disastrous attempt?"

"Perhaps not."

When they reached her house, he very properly walked her to the door. This time she didn't stop him as he scorched her with that intense gaze and leaned slowly forward, pulling her in for their first real kiss in the relative privacy of her doorway. The frantic barking from the other side of the door pulled them apart and she smiled up at him and said, "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Eight o'clock" he confirmed as he placed on last chaste kiss on her lips.

Elizabeth unlocked her door and entered her house where she proceeded to tell her girls all about her evening. Lydia and Kitty were the most energetic in their response, Jane sat there quietly and wagged her tail contentedly, and Mary just lumbered her way back to her bed, unimpressed with the Romance of it all.


	11. Ch11: The Chase

William arrived at the park at seven forty five the following morning, unable to hold off any longer. He smiled as he recognized Elizabeth's car in the sparsely filled parking lot. Last night had been so perfect he thought it might be a dream. Elizabeth wanted to spend more time with him. She'd stayed with him all evening, she'd kissed him back! He knew that she wanted to take things slowly, but his mind was racing forward rapidly. This was the first conclusive sign that Elizabeth reciprocated his feelings even a little and it was hard not to imagine all of the possibilities for the future.

These pleasant thoughts were interrupted by a scream that sounded horrifyingly like Elizabeth. Before he could make it out of his car, George Wickham came running out of the park with his dog following behind, his muzzle stained with blood. They got into a beat up blue Ford Taurus. Darcy's stomach dropped and he and Bingley ran to the gate. Elizabeth was sobbing while another woman ... Maddie something ... held her and two others ran off towards the high grass at the far end of the park. "Good God, what is the matter!" He cried as he reached her, frantically checking her for wounds. "Elizabeth, are you ok? Are you injured?" He asked as he drew her into his arms. Maddie moved off to calm the dogs.

"It's Lydia ..." Elizabeth cried as she tried to calm herself. "She went up to him and took his toy, he got angry and just picked her up like a stuffed animal. He ran off with her back there..." she gestured to the tall grass where the others were searching. We saw him shake her then ... Wickham, called him off and Killer came back covered in blood but without Lydia. I have to go find her!"

Darcy's fists clenched at the thought that Wickham and his beast had hurt someone else he loved, but now was the time for action. He needed to find Lydia and look out for Elizabeth, she couldn't be the one to find her if the worst had happened. "Elizabeth, you stay here and try to keep Kitty, Jane and Mary calm, I'll go help look for Lydia."

He turned and was off towards the high grass. That dog was so tiny, and the area so vast but he would be here till dusk searching if that's what it took. As he combed through the grass, he pulled out his phone and searched for the police non-emergency line to report the incident. There were currently witnesses but who knew how long these people would remain here.

He was in the process of describing the car they drove off in to the operator when he heard a faint whimpering. The operator assured him that they'd send an officer over to take the report and he quickly ended the call, swiftly moving towards the sound. She was injured – she had a large bite mark around her middle that was bleeding and she almost certainly had broken ribs if not internal damage and was having some trouble breathing – but she was still alive. He took off his scarf and gently wrapped her up in it, trying to minimize how much he jostled her.

* * *

Elizabeth sat near the gate holding a frantic Kitty who was desperately trying to go off in search of Lydia. Jane and Mary sat somberly on either side of her like sentinels. She sat there for what felt like hours, though the clock on her phone improbably told her only about 20 minutes had passed as Darcy and the others searched for Lydia. She knew they were right, nobody else would be able to calm Kitty right now, and she was too emotionally attached to be very useful. She knew all of this but it was killing her to sit there idly doing nothing while Lydia was lost and hurt. Elizabeth's heart sunk lower as she realized that she must be badly hurt at the least otherwise she'd have come back by now, or been barking up a storm.

She jumped up with a start when that beautiful deep baritone voice called out: "I've got her." Within a minute Darcy was gently handing her over to Elizabeth as carefully as he could and Elizabeth let out a shuddering breath to see that Lydia was at least alive. "She'll need medical attention," he said in that brusque style that used to irritate her so thoroughly but now that commanding tone was comforting.

"The clinic will be closed, but Charlotte will be at the shelter and they've got facilities there," Elizabeth said as she got out her phone and called Charlotte to come in early to the shelter for an emergency, giving her a brief summary of the events and the extent of her injuries.

Maddie Goulding dashed back from the parking lot, waiving a file box. "Put her in here for the drive, it'll help minimize further injuries." Elizabeth was hesitant to put her down but realized it would be safer. Darcy's hand was on the small of her back leading her to the parking lot. Before she knew it she was seated in the passenger side of Maddie's car, with Darcy leaning into the open door stammering about wishing he could do more to comfort her but before she could respond the door was closed and she was watching him get smaller as Maddie backed out. _It would be easier for to comfort me if he stuck with me in a crisis,_ she thought selfishly.

She shook her head and looked around, and saw a stack of folders strewn across the back seat. "Where are the other dogs?" She asked with a start, embarrassed that she'd been so preoccupied with Lydia that she'd essentially just abandoned the other three.

"Jenny will walk Lucky home while I take you to the shelter, Darcy's watching your dogs. He's waiting for the cops to file a report and making sure people either stick around or give him contact information so everyone can give a statement." Elizabeth felt guilty for doubting him, even in her head. Of course he'd be managing everything, that's just how he was.

It didn't take long to arrive at the shelter and Elizabeth had her seat belt off before the car was even in park. Charlotte, ready to go in a pair of paw print scrubs, met her at the door with a quick hug. She took Lydia and headed to the small clinic in the back. Elizabeth tried to follow her in but Charlotte blocked the door. "I know you know better than this Elizabeth, Tina's here to assist me, I've got things under control. You're too close to this and you can't be in here." Elizabeth merely nodded and backed away.

For a while she sat in the small waiting room in the hard plastic chairs and the flickering fluorescent light. By the third time Mr. Collins came out to tell her how unusual it was to bring a personal pet in to the shelter for medical attention and how much Catherine DeBurgh would disapprove of wasting the shelter's resources in such a way she lost her temper. "Mr. Collins, I have volunteered at this shelter nearly every weekend for the last four years. At the hourly rate for my services at the clinic, I'd say I'm contributing over a hundred grand per year to the efficient running of this shelter. My best friend is currently volunteering her time to save an injured animal. If you want to talk to me about the the price for lap pads and medications you may do so at a later date, but if you say one more word to me about it today you can find yourself another behaviorist!" She then stormed out of the room and went looking for work to keep her busy.


	12. Ch12: Reunion

Several hours later, Darcy finally made his way to the shelter to check in on Elizabeth. It had taken over an hour for the officer to show up, another hour to take down all of the statements – Darcy insisted on being the last to give a statement so that the others could leave and so that he could share more details about George and Killer's past actions – then he dropped by his house to drop the dogs off with Georgiana before stopping to pick up lunch for Elizabeth and finally making his way back to her.

He was intercepted in the waiting room by Mr. Collins, "Mr. Darcy, we are honored indeed to have such an esteemed guest to our humble establishment. May I presume you are here as an ambassador for your aunt, Mrs. Catherine DeBurgh?"

"No, I'm here to see how Lydia and Elizabeth are doing."

"Ah, yes. That is an uncomfortable business. You see, it is a highly irregular circumstance for a volunteer to abuse the shelter's resources for the care of a personal pet. I am sure that you will join me in censuring Ms. Bennet for her impropriety, especially as she had a rather unprofessional and hysterical reaction when I happened to mention it to her."

"You confronted a woman who has personally both volunteered her expertise and contributed to fundraising efforts for your organization for asking a favor of a friend when her dog is gravely injured?" William's voice shook with barely suppressed rage as he hovered over the obnoxious sycophant in front of him.

"Why yes," Collins said meekly, shifting himself behind the counter, "it would not be good business to be squandering our limited resources in such a way."

"This," William gestured around him, "is not a business, it is a not for profit whose function is to save animals in need. And when your colleague, the best friend of your girlfriend, has a crisis you lecture her? Has she refused to pay for the resources required?"

"Well, no. She said I could discuss them with her at a later date. Though in her hysterical fit she also threatened to stop volunteering if I did so today. Women can be so emotional."

William saw that it was pointless to try reasoning with this man so he tried a different tact, "I have a proposition for you. When all of this is over, you may send me a bill for the materials used. I will include an additional five thousand dollar donation to the shelter if you agree to _never_ speak so dismissively of Ms. Bennet again. She is a professional who is not only more qualified than you but also has more empathy for the animals in your care than you can even pretend to have. If I find that you do not live up to this agreement, I will inform my aunt and all of my friends – you know, the ones with the large checkbooks that attended the ball – about your shady business practices and your callous disregard for animals."

Mr. Collins stood there with his mouth agape for a moment before he quietly agreed. "Good, now, where can I find Elizabeth?"

"She's back in the kennels working." At Darcy's glare Collins cowered and added, "she said she wanted to keep busy to keep her mind off of Lydia!"

* * *

Socializing the more difficult animals was one of her roles at the shelter, but given today's drama, Elizabeth found it oddly soothing. Animals didn't have to turn out like Killer, she could make a difference. She could prevent this from happening to another family. She had just returned a particularly surly dachshund to her cage when Charlotte emerged.

"She's stable. That is one scrappy little pup you've got there she had several broken ribs and a pneumothorax – a collapsed lung – as well as a couple of puncture wounds from the teeth, but she was still licking my hand before we put her under. We've extracted the excess air and bandaged her up for now. She's going to need some oxygen and observation for about 24 hours and pain meds, rest, and a cone of shame for at least a week. It'll still be a while before she starts coming off of the anesthesia."

"Should I take her to the animal hospital for observation? Does she need to be admitted?"

"No need! I'm disgusted with my boyfriend and don't want to even see him right now, so you've got an in-home vet for the night at least."

"Oh no, did he start in on you too?"

"Oh, as soon as I got off the phone with you this morning," Charlotte rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Then I went looking for you in the waiting room and heard him trying to tell Mr. tall dark and can't peel his eyes off you about your 'hysterical' outburst and how 'emotional' women are. I left just as your boyfriend was offering to pay for today's materials and a donation if Collins promised never to be so disrespectful to you again. I'm pretty sure your boyfriend could kick my boyfriend's butt."

"When did Darcy get here?" Elizabeth said, brightening a bit.

"About ten minutes ago, but I've been dealing with that Oaf," he said from behind her and she turned and melted into his embrace. "Sorry," he said to Charlotte with a grimace.

"Nope, insult him at will, I'm fed up with him myself at the moment."

"How's Lydia?" He asked.

"She'll be ok," Charlotte replied, "but I'll let Lizzy fill you in. I'll come find you when Lydia wakes up."

As Charlotte walked away, Elizabeth explained what was happening with Lydia. Once that was done she nestled further in and whispered, "thank you," into his chest. "Thank you for dealing with the police, and taking care of everything, and for bribing Collins into respecting me ... although I doubt that's a viable long-term solution."

His chuckle reverberated through her, "you weren't supposed to hear about that part." He kissed the top of her head and continued, "I'm just glad I could be there to help you. How are you holding up?"

"As well as can be expected. I'm being extra loving to all of my problem dogs today, with the right socialization and environment, they don't have to end up like Killer."

"Have I told you how amazing you are?"

"Not in so many words, though I hear you told Collins."

* * *

That evening, Darcy knocked on Elizabeth's door holding four leashes. Earlier he'd dropped Elizabeth, Charlotte, and a very sleepy Lydia off at Elizabeth's car with an agreement to meet them back at Elizabeth's place in a half hour with the other dogs. When she opened the door she teased: "Look at you, Mr. CEO walking around in jeans with a herd of dogs like a common dog walker." Darcy merely smiled at her, content, and kissed her cheek. "It seems you've returned me an extra dog," she said patting Bingley's head.

"He was so sad when Jane had to leave that I let him come along for the ride."

"Well, now that he's already here, it would be a shame to disappoint him."

"Elizabeth Bennet," he said in mock indignation, "are you saying you want to steal my dog?"

"William," she said, stepping through the crowd of dogs to snuggle against him, "I'm saying you should stay."

"Are you sure?"

"I don't want to be alone after the day I've had."

"What about Charlotte?"

"She's set up in the guest bedroom with Lydia."

"Elizabeth ... I know you're too kind to toy with me. If your feelings are still what they were in February, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged."

"Good," Elizabeth said breaking into a gorgeous smile and giving him a quick kiss, "because my feelings have changed rather drastically."

**Author's Note: **

Hey everyone, I hope you like this little fluffy story. It started out as my stress relief at the end of last semester and turned into my stress relief as we bought a house! Every dog in here is at least loosely based on a dog I've had or known (although, oddly enough, Kitty is somewhat based on my cat).

I'm sorry if I got any details wrong or if some parts seemed a bit hand wavy. I'm not an animal behaviorist or a vet.


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